


A Second Chance

by WeiWuqian



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers 2012 - Freeform, Frigga (Marvel) Knows All, Gen, Good Loki (Marvel), Good Odin (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Torture, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Loki (Marvel)-centric, Mild Language, No Slash, Parent Frigga (Marvel), Partial Mind Control, Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Thor (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Time Travel, ooc Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24195997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeiWuqian/pseuds/WeiWuqian
Summary: "Do you want to save your brother?"Loki wasn't sure whose voice he heard but he answered instantly."Yes."--When an attempt to safe Thor at the Statesman goes horribly wrong, Loki was sent back in time to the battle of New York into the body of his younger self by an unknown force. He took this as a second chance to warn The Avengers of Thanos's threat and safe his brother but nobody around him believes him save for Thor and his family.Will Loki be able to gain their trust and destroy Thanos before it's too late?
Relationships: Frigga | Freyja & Loki (Marvel), Frigga | Freyja & Thor (Marvel), Frigga | Freyja/Odin (Marvel), Loki & Avengers Team, Loki & Odin (Marvel), Loki & Thor (Marvel), Loki & Tony Stark
Comments: 101
Kudos: 320





	1. A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time writing fanfiction. English isn't my first language so I'm sorry if there are a few grammar mistakes here and there. I hope you enjoy!

Thanos stared at the space stone in his gauntlet with a pleased smile on his face. "There are two more stones on Earth. Find them my children, bring them to me," he said and the four members of the black order kneeled before him.

"Father, we will not fail you-"

"If I might interject," Loki's voice suddenly filled the room, interrupting Proxima Midnight. All the members of the black order stood abruptly, ready to attack Loki. "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. Do you have a bit of experience in that arena?" He continued with his arms opened as if ready to offer himself up.

"You consider failure experience?" Thanos asked.

"I consider _experience_ experience," Loki said and Thanos continued to stare at Loki. "Almighty Thanos. I, Loki, Prince of Asgard," he paused and turned towards Thor. "Odin's son," he added as his eyes met Thor's. He could see Thor shaking in his metal binding that Ebony Maw had made. He's all too familiar with that look in the Trickster's eyes. "The rightful King of Jotunheim, God of Mischief, do hereby pledge to you-" he summons a knife in one of his hands. "My undying fidelity," Loki finishes and looked down, as if he was going bow down before bringing the knife up to stab Thanos in the throat.

He was fast.

But not as fast as Thanos.

Thanos fisted his hand and Loki's hand froze, the tip of his blade barely touching Thanos as the power of the space stone froze Loki's hand in place. Loki gritted his teeth as he tried to pull back but to no avail.

"Undying," Thanos growled and gripped Loki's hand, which caused Loki to whimper in pain. He twisted the smaller man'a hand, which caused the knife to fall from his hands. Loki barred his teeth as he tried to suppress his scream.

Thanos let go of Loki's hand and the gauntleted hand moved to circle around his throat when all of a sudden his hand passed right through Loki. Thanos didn't even have time to rage when suddenly he felt a weight on his shoulders and a knife thrust into it.

"Witch!" Thanos shouted and instinctively threw his hands back to grab Loki. They both struggled for a few moments, with Loki driving the knife deeper into him while his gaunleted hand trying to find a hold on Loki. At last, he finally grabbed Loki by his arm and threw him across the room. Loki hit a wall and fell to the floor with a hard thud.

"Jotun runt!" Loki heard Thanos curse as he tried to get up. By the corner of his eye, he could see Proxima approaching him.

"How dare you hurt our father!" Proxima shouted as she brought a sword down to Loki, who barely dodged it. He traded blows with her and he could hear Thor shouting in the background. She slashed his thigh, which made him groan in pain and stumble on his feet. She took this opportunity to land a hard kick in his face and Loki fell back, his head hitting the ground hard.

Proxima rolled Loki onto his friend and put a knee on his back. He whimpered in pain and he could hear Thor shouting louder behind his muzzle. She took a fistful of his hair and pulled his head back before slamming his head into the floor repeatedly. He could feel warm blood streaming down his face as he took blow after blow.

It wasn't until after a while, she let go of Loki's hair and Loki took a moment to look back at his brother, whose face was wet with tears and mouth bloody because of the muzzle. He doesn't want to die today. At least not until he can make sure Thor is safe.

Loki closed his eyes and time seemed to slow down for him. He could feel the prickling of seidr under his skin and using the last reserves of magic he had, he conjured up to about ten clones which he set loose in the ruin of the statesmen.

"You little shit!" Proxima shouted and was ready to bash Loki's head again but was tackled by a clone. The clones wreaked havoc, most of them attacking Thanos as he tried to fight them.

Loki took this opportunity to crawl to his brother, who called out to him from behind the muzzle.

"Brother, stop talking. Your mouth is bleeding," Loki said as he tried to pull the muzzle off, vision fuzzy because of the repeated blows by Proxima.

"You were almost killed!" Was the first thing Thor said after the muzzle was pulled out. Loki pulled another piece of metal which revealed Thor's hand.

"Thor-"

"Brother, he was about to choke you!" Thor yelled over the chaos and Loki grabbed him by the shoulders in a rough grip.

"Listen to me!" He yelled at Thor and Loki could see the anger in Thor's eyes dissipate, replaced with confusion.

"Loki, what-"

"You need to go back to your mortal friends, Thor. You _need_ to make sure Thanos doesn't collect all the stones. You need to-"

"Loki, what are you talking about?" Thor asked, frowning and Loki gave a weak smile before looking at his hands. Thor gave Loki a skeptical look before looking at Loki's hands. He opened his palm and revealed a blue infinity stone in it.

"How did you get that?" The blond asked and Loki sighed. He slyly took it from Thanos's gauntlet when he attacked the purple man from above.

"Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you need to go to Midgard protect the infinity stones there. Make sure he doesn't collect all of them, alright?" Loki explained hurriedly, occasionally glancing back to make sure his clones were doing the job.

"What about you? Where will you go?" Thor questioned but Loki only smiled weakly at him and Thor instantly knew what it meant. Thor's expression hardened and he shook his head. "I will not leave you here, brother. I either leave with you or I'm not leaving at all." Loki shook his head at him.

"I don't have enough energy to teleport both of us using the stone."

"No, I will not-"

"I'm not giving you a choice here, Thor!"

"I'm not losing my brother again!" Thor yelled and Loki glanced back at his clones. His clones were running out and there's no magic left in him to conjure more.

"So you would choose me over the fate of the universe?!"

"Yes!" Loki's eyes widened for a split second, taken aback by what his brother said before shaking his head and regaining his composure.

"Forgive me, Thor," Loki said and tried to shove the stone into Thor's hand, which was difficult because he kept resisting. Thor looked up and his eyes widened.

"Look out!" Was all Loki heard before he felt a sharp blow connect his stomach and he flew back from the force of the kick. His fingers were still curled around the space stone. He rolled to the side and let out a cough. Blood spilled out of his mouth, mixing with the blood that was oozing out of the top of his head.

"No!" Thor shouted and Loki looked up just in time to see Thanos punch Thor in the face, hard. Loki couldn't find the strength to tell Thanos to not touch his brother.

Black spots were appearing, clouding his vision and next thing he knows, he sees a pair of boots in front of him.

"Give me the stone, Asgardian," he growled as he knelt down pulled Loki up by his hair. Loki merely blinked at him, which caused him to get angrier. "I demand the stone, now!"

Loki gave a slow laugh, gurgling a bit from the blood. He lifted a hand to wipe the blood of with his sleeve and shook, his head. "I don't have it," he lied and he caught Thor's eye again. He could see the pain in Thor's eyes as Thanos stood.

"Alright," he said with a sadistic smile. "I believe you."

Thanos walked over to Thor, calmly and wrapped the hand with the gauntlet around the blonde Asgardian’s throat before squeezing it tightly. Loki’s eye widened as he frantically pushed himself up.

“Stop! I yield!” He shouted and tried to run towards his brother but instead he felt Proxima’s spear collide with his head and he fell, stars dancing around his vision. He couldn’t get up, body too weak after multiple beatings and all he could do was roll to his side and watch as Thor struggled against Thanos’s hold, unable to move because of the metal bindings.

“Too late to give up now, Trickster,” Thanos said and Loki heard an audible crack and suddenly Thor isn’t struggling anymore.

No.

 _ **No, no, no**_.

“Thor,” he sobbed as the bindings that held Thor fell away with a wave of Ebony Maw’s hand. Thor’s lifeless body fell to the ground, his bloodshot eyes still open.

“No!” He shouted and crawled towards his brother’s body, tears streaming down his face. Thanos let him cry over his brother, a sadistic grin on his face watching Loki suffer. It went on for a few moments before Thanos interrupted.

Thanos approached him and backhanded him in the face.

“You will give me the stone, Trickster,” he said and walked over to Loki.

As quickly as he said that, Thanos hand wrapped around Loki's throat and lifted him of the ground. Loki struggled, because it hurt. Everything hurt. His thigh, his head, his stomach. But most of all, it hurt to watch Thor slip away right in front of his eyes. It hurt knowing how close he was to saving Thor only to fail because of his brother’s own stubbornness.

He only wants one thing.

To keep his brother safe from the mad titans wrath.

And he failed.

All of a sudden, Thanos was pushed back by an invisible force, which caused him to stumble back towards some of the black order members. Loki fell to the ground, clutching his throat as he gasped for air. He felt warmth in his hand and opened it to reveal the space stone, humming full of energy. The humming got louder and louder.

"What tricks are you playing?!"

Loki ignored Thanos comment as he laid there with his hand open, staring at the stone with his blurred vision. He saw Thanos get up and run towards Loki only to get blown back by the force field that was starting to surround Loki.

A blue hue with the colour of the stone surrounded Loki, engulfing him. Loki gave one last glance to Thor’s body, who looked at Loki with empty bloodshot eyes.

" ** _Do you want to save your brother?_** "

Loki wasn't sure whose voice he heard but he answered instantly.

" _Yes_."

And as soon as he said that, there was a bright light and afterwards, darkness surrounds Loki.

* * *

"Look around you!"

As soon as Loki opened his eyes, he was met with his brother's own blue eyes. Not just one, but two blue eyes. Thor has his hand clasped at the back of his neck really tightly and Loki could see anger in Thor’s eyes.

”You think this madness will end with your rule?” Thor shouted and Loki looked at what Thor was talking about and it was a familiar sight to him. Chitauri hovercrafts flew around the battered state of New York, destroying buildings. He could see a few civilians running amok, trying to escape the chitauri.   
  


He turned to Thor, wide eyed and Loki took in the sight of his brother. Thor looked better than he had on the Statesman. His hair was shorter and his eye was still there, no eye patch needed. He noticed mjolnir in one of his hands and that was when the realisation struck him.

Where was he?

“Brother?” He called and Thor’s eyes widened. His grasp on Loki’s neck faltered for a few seconds before it tightened again and his expression hardened.

”No more tricks, Loki,” He growled and Loki shook his head.

”Brother, where are we?” He asked again and Thor looked at him with confusion.

All of a sudden, pain shot up Loki’s head and he let out a pained gasp, breaking free out of Thor’s arms and clutching his head. Loki groaned and fell to his side. He touched his forehead and felt warm liquid on his fingers. He brought back his fingers and saw blood on it.

“Loki, what’s wrong?” Thor knelt beside his brother and his eyes widened as a bunch of injuries popped up on Loki’s body. Ones which were not caused by him. Loki let out a pained groan before letting out a wretched cough and black liquid spilled out of his mouth.

“I’m fine…” Loki said weakly and Thor shook his head, worry in his eyes.

“You are not fine, Loki,” Thor argued and held Loki in his arms, eyes scanning the injuries. “All these injuries,” he said and shook his head before continuing his sentence. “They are not my doing!”

“I will get you a healer,” Thor concluded and slung Loki’s arm around his shoulders before standing up. Loki tried to pull away but his efforts were futile

against Thor who kept a firm grip on Loki.

“I don’t need a healer,” Loki insisted. There was only one thing in his mind and that was the threat of Thanos. He needs to warn his brother. “I need to tell you something.”

“Loki,” Thor warned and Loki paused his struggling. “We will talk later but for now, we will find help,” he said and Loki pushed him away. This time, Thor late Loki go.

“I need to tell you some-“

Loki was interrupted when a blur of red and gold collided with him and he was thrown back hard. He hit a wall before falling face first to the ground. He shouted as he felt pain on his ribs and he couldn’t move.

“Not so fast, Reindeer Games,” he heard and looked up to see none other than Tony Stark looking down at him. His repulsor was aimed at Loki, a slight high pitched hum heard.

“Good to see you again,” he managed to say, despite hissing in pain.

“Stop!” He heard Thor’s voice and he tried to stand up on his own, stumbling on his own feet.

“What do you mean ‘stop’?”

“Loki means no harm-“

“There are aliens flying around New York and you’re telling me that he means no harm?!”

Thor and Stark continued to argue, seeming to forget for a moment that Loki was there. He braced himself against a small table and pulled himself up. He noticed a sharp pain at his thigh and looked at it. The gash that Proxima had left on him had started to blacken and look infected. Loki suppressed the bile coming up his throat and limped over to Thor before his legs gave out.

“Thor, please,” he gasped and Thor stopped his arguing with Stark to look at Loki. Loki’s state was even worst that before.

“Stark, please, I need your help. My brother needs aid,” Thor pleaded and but he shook his head.

“Just turn him over to SHIELD. They’ll handle it.”

Right after he finished his sentence, Loki lurched forward and more thick, black liquid shot out of his mouth and onto the feet of the Iron Man’s armor.

“What the hell!”

“He needs help!” Thor shouted while trying to hold Loki upright. Right when he said that, Loki heard footsteps coming in and saw the man out of time standing by the elevator, shield in hand.

“What are you both doing?” The Captain asked loudly, quickly approaching Thor.

“Captain, please, my brother needs help,” Thor begged and Steve looked at Loki, trying to understand what the hell is going on.

There was blood oozing out of Loki’s head and there were traces of black liquid running down his chin. A bruise was forming around his neck and there was a gash on his thigh that looked infected.

“Stark, did you do this?”

“No way in hell,” he replied, shaking his head.

“Thor, we need to give Loki up to SHIELD,” Steve tried to suggest but Thor kept refusing.

“There is something wrong with Loki. I do not know what it is but if Loki continues like this he might die. Please, Captain,” Thor implored while helping Loki up, who groaned in pain. Steve took a closer look at Loki. And then to Thor.

“It’s alright, Thor. SHIELD will help you.”

“This illness is something midgard medicine cannot help,” Thor said before turning away with a frown. “And I fear they might take advantage of my brother,” he added.

Thor looked upset and confused. He didn’t know what to do and Steve felt pity build up inside him. And then there’s Loki. He looked he just got chewed up and spat out. He gazed at the both of them a little bit longer and turned to Tony.

“Rogers, are you seriously doing what I think you’re doing?” Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest as his faceplate lifted up to reveal the man’s face.

Steve grimaced and turned to Thor. “How will we know that Loki won’t backstab you and kill you? Or try to start another invasion again?”

“He wouldn’t. Not in this state.”

Steve considered before turning to Tony, who recognized the look on Steve’s face. Tony shook his head rapidly.

“No, no, no. I’m not helping him!”

“Stark.”

“Rogers.”

“Please, Stark. If not for me then do it for Thor,” Steve said. He heard Thor ask Loki whether he was alright or not at the back.

“And what’s in it for me? What if I get caught by SHIELD? It won’t be pretty,” Tony argued, voice raised.

“I’ll deal with SHIELD. You just get Thor and Loki to safety,” Steve said and Tony let out a frustrated sigh before raising his neck to get a brief look at Thor and Loki.

“Fine. But you owe me big time, Rogers,” he said and Steve nodded in acknowledgement.

“Thor, follow me, okay? And give Loki to me. I don’t think you can carry him and fly at the same time,” Tony said and Thor nodded in compliance. He gently put Loki in Tony’s outstretched arms. The demi God whined softly in pain.

“I’m gonna fly and you’re going to follow me. That alright with you?”

“Yes, Man of Iron.”

“Okay, great. Let’s go then before SHIELD catches up with us,” he said and closed his faceplate, ready to fly when he felt a hand at his chest.

“Wait!” Loki called out and Tony gave an impatient grunt.

“What now?!”

“Captain,” Loki called and Steve turned to him. “Use the scepter to close the portal.” He pointed at the scepter that laid on the balcony of the Stark tower and Steve nodded hesitantly. “And also… thank you.”

Steve nodded in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything.

“You done?” Tony asked and Loki nodded. “Good.”

After that, he was in the air, carried by Tony Stark with his brother following closely behind. He would have felt embarrassed, being carried around like some maiden in distress if it weren’t for the excruciating pain that is spreading through his whole leg.

He groaned and whimpered, loud enough for Thor to hear.

“Hold on, brother!” He heard Thor shout over the wind but it hurt too much.

“Thor,” he called weakly. Dark spots were clouding his vision and it was getting harder and harder to open his eyes.

“Don’t die on me now, Reindeer Games!” Was the last thing he heard before he succumbed to the darkness because of the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry if the writing is unsatisfying. I'll try to finish this story as soon as possible. At least before I go to University. Please, feel free to leave reviews. It would help me a lot. Thank you! <3


	2. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki have a long conversation, Steve tries hold off Nick Fury and someone confronts Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back with another chapter. Thank you for the kind reviews on the previous chapter. It inspired me to try and update faster. Hope you enjoy this chapter <3

_“There will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you! You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!”_

_Thanos grinned and asked, “The tesseract or your brothers head?”_

_Thor groaned as Thanos hand gripped his head, gritting his teeth. Thor struggled against the titan’s grip but he did not let go of Thor._

_“I assume you have a preference?”_

_“Oh I do. Kill away.”_

_Loki regretted his words. He thought he could handle it, watching Thor being hurt. Thor’s been hurt numerous times, especially during previous battles but there’s something about watching the mad titan out of all people hurt Thor that made it hard to accept._

_Maybe it’s because he knew Thor wouldn’t stand a chance against Thanos._

_The power stone in the gauntlet glowed when Thanos pressed it to Thunderer’s head. Tendrils of purple appeared on Thor’s head and he yelled in pain._

_It continued on until Loki couldn’t take it anymore._

_“Alright stop!”_

_Thanos stopped and Thor gasped in pain. He summoned the tesseract in his hand and presented it to Thanos._

_“You really are the worse brother,” Thor choked out and Loki felt a pang of regret in his heart._

_And then there was darkness everywhere. And then he was falling, and falling and falling._

_Loki screamed and screamed but no one heard him. There was no light, and not even air. He struggled to breathe combined with the nervousness of falling for what seemed like forever._

_For a moment, he wondered. Why did he let go? Was it because he’s a coward? Too scared to face the truth that he was nothing more than a monster._

_His throat felt tight and he choked, hands scratching at his throat._

_He could remember the golden gauntlet circling his throat, tightening around it. He could feel the joy in Thanos as he choked the life out of Loki._

_He remembers Thanos twisting his arm and his dagger falling out of his limp hand._

_He remembers Thanos grabbing him and slamming him against the wall._

_He remembers Thanos approaching his brother._

_He remembers the sickening crack that came and Thor’s lifeless body falling to the floor._

_He failed. He failed to safe him._

_Maybe he is the worse brother._

_But then he remembers a voice, soft, sweet and unlike any other he heard before in his life._

_“Do you want to safe him?”_

_And without missing a heartbeat, he said, “Yes.”_

* * *

“Brother.”

Loki whimpered, eyes closed.

“Brother!”

Loki opened his eyes, eyes wide as he gasped in pain. His hands went for his neck, scratching it to get rid of Thanos’s hold. He could feel Thanos’s hand around his neck vividly as if he was still there and he let out a yell that barely came out.

A large hand wrapped around his wrist, and he pulled away, trying to sit up from the bed in a panic.

The blood pounded in his ears and he could hear his heartbeat in his chest. His breathing labored as he clutched his throat. The same hands grabbed his wrists again and he struggled against it but this time he didn’t let go.

“Let me go!” He yelled and bit the arm but still he didn’t let go.

“It’s me, brother!” A voice yelled. A voice similar to Thor’s.

He looked up and saw him.

Thor.

“You are safe here, brother,” Thor assured him and Loki slowly lowered his hands from his neck. Thor kept a lose grip on his wrists and they sat in silence, only his own breathing can be heard and Thor did not say a thing until his breathing was under control.

Thor kept his eyes on Loki, making sure that he wouldn’t hurt himself.

“Thor?” His voice came out ugly and raspy. He winced slightly at the sound of his own voice.

“I am here, Loki,” he said and let go one of his wrists to pat Loki lightly on the back.

Loki looked at Thor and finally had the opportunity to take in the sight of his brother. Thor’s hair was shorter than it had been on the Statesman. He looked younger, and his beard was shorter. His eyes were full of worry and Loki slowly let out a breath of relief.

“You have two eyes,” he said softly and Thor frowned in confusion, looking around the room as if he could find an answer.

“I’ve always had two eyes. What are you talking about?” Thor asked and Loki chuckled.

Well, _tried_ to chuckle, his throat hurt. But he managed to let out a smile before slowly moving over to give Thor an embrace, burying his face into Thor’s neck. His brother tensed at first, but slowly melted into the hug and hugged Loki back.

“You’re alive,” he whispered, tears building up in his eyes.

“Of course I’m alive, brother,” Thor said before pushing Loki away, who protested with a whine. He grasped both of Loki’s shoulders in his hands and looked at him in the eyes. “Is something wrong?”

He breathed a sigh of relief. Thor is here, with him. Everything that happened, the Statesman, Thanos, the Black Order, it was just a nightmare. Nothing happened because Thor is here with him.

Just a nightmare.

He repeated it like a mantra in his head.

Everything is going to be alright. _Everything is going to be alright. Thanos isn’t here._

“Where are we?” he asked after looking around the room. The lights in the room were dim and the paint on the walls were faded. Some of the wood on the floor was already rotting. There was a window at the far end of the room. The curtains were closed but he could see a few rays of sunlight entering the room.

“I don’t know. I didn’t bother to ask Stark but he assured that nobody would find us here,” Thor shrugged. Loki frowned, his forehead creasing.

“Stark?”

“Yes, Stark.” Thor looked suspicious and asked, “What was the last thing you remember?”

Loki stiffened in Thor’s hold before looking away, fingers playing with the blanket that was covering him. What was the last thing he remembered? He closed his eyes tightly, trying to recall.

_‘You think this madness will end with your rule?!’_

_‘Thor, I need to tell you something.’_

He could only remember snippets but he could sense something’s not right. Everything felt all too familiar and he slowly turned his towards his brother. He looked at Thor again but it all the more confirmed his suspicion. His brother looked younger. Way younger than he expected.

“Are you alright?” Loki heard but he didn’t care.

“What year is it?” Loki’s voice was low, raspy and shaking.

“What do you mean, Loki? If this is another one of your tricks then-“

“What. Year. Is. It.”

Thor was baffled before stuttering, “It’s 2012 in midgardian years.”

“You’re lying to me,” Loki exclaimed but Thor shook his head.

“Brother why would I lie to you? You’re the talented liar here,” Thor probably meant that as a compliment but he shook his head.

That’s impossible. 2012? That was six years ago. It’s simply not possible. He looked back at Thor, trying to find any traces of lies. He expected Thor to break his façade and laugh at his reaction but nothing happened.

“Loki, your wounds,” Thor started but he didn’t get to continue his sentence when Loki pulled away from him to lift up the blanket covering his leg. He lifted the thin white garb he was wearing and his eyes went to the gash that Proxima left on him using her spear.

The last time Loki saw the gash, it was blackened to the point where it looked extremely infected but now, it looked less severe. The black color on his skin had lessen a lot and the gash had healed a bit, but Loki could still see some parts of it still unhealed.

How is he in 2012 if all his wounds from the Statesman are there?

“I used healing stones,” Thor cut in and Loki looked up to his brother, whose eyes were on the floor. “I brought some with me when I came to Earth,” he said without meeting Loki’s eyes and he frowned.

“Thor?”

“I used some on you and-“

“Thor,” Loki called out again but Thor still didn’t look up. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

Thor looked up with a sad expression and Loki frowned in confusion. After a long silence, Thor took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

“Your heart stopped, Loki.”

Loki’s mouth was agape but Thor continued.

“I thought I lost you. Stark, the Man of Iron, administered a method the midgardians called CPR to revive you. You were lost to me for about 10 minutes,” Thor said and Loki could see tears building in his brother’s eyes.

“It’s alright, I’m fine now, Thor,” he tried to tell but Thor shook his head, the tears falling to his cheeks.

“I was scared. I thought that…” Thor trailed off, closing his eyes before taking a deep breath and continuing again. “I thought I would lose you again,” he said softly and Loki almost didn’t hear it.

“But I’m here now. With you. It’s not like I was lost to you for so long. It’s most likely only been a few hours and-“

“Loki.”

“-the gash is almost healing anyways-“

“Loki!” Thor shouted and Loki grunted in annoyance.

“What?!”

“You have been asleep for five days!” Thor shouted and Loki was taken aback.

 _Five days_?

“You kept vomiting! You kept vomiting some sickening black liquid. You even vomited in your sleep!” Thor was breathing hard and he rubbed a hand on his face. “I had to stop you from choking yourself to death by your own vomit.”

Loki stayed silent, hands slowly tracing what’s left of the gash. Was it because of the poison on Proxima’s spear?

“I thought I caused this and I… I would never forgive myself for hurting you to the brink of death,” Thor gulped and Loki blinked. Is this why Thor has been looking like a guilty puppy ever since he woke up?

“It’s not your fault,” Loki muttered while pulling down the white garb to cover his thigh.

“It looks like it is after I beat you at Stark’s balcony,” Thor objected before adding, “Stark took a sample of your blood. There seems to be something foreign in it that even I do not recognize.”

“Poison,” Loki muttered after a long silence but Thor didn’t hear.

“What?”

“Poison,” he repeated.

“Poison?”

“Yes, poison,” he confirmed.

“How did you even get poisoned, Loki? And with poison that I have never seen before,” Thor asked but Loki refused to answer.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said but it only made Thor more uneasy.

“Loki, it does matter! I will find whoever that poisoned you and-“

“Thor, stop,” Loki demanded and Thor’s mouth remained open for a few seconds before closing. “I don’t want to talk about it just yet,” he said and Thor knew better than to thread on thin ice.

Thor stared at Loki before rubbing his face with both hands in frustration. “If you are telling the truth and that is poison then I need to get Eir.” He stood up to walk outside the room, but Loki held him back with a hand on his wrist.

“Please, don’t,” he breathed out and tried to get off the bed but Thor pushed him back.

“Poison is beyond my knowledge, Loki. Not even healing stones could help you,” Thor argued and Loki gave up trying to get off the bed and instead let his feet dangle over side of the bed, slowly putting his feet on the floor.

“I’m doing alright now,” he insisted but the blond shook his head.

“You weren’t doing alright when you were throwing up a bucket over the past few days,” Thor shot back and he scowled.

“I’m not weak, Thor. After all, what would Odin say if you bring me back? I would still be a prisoner of Asgard and he would most likely deny me a healer,” he countered and after a moment, Thor gave a sigh before sitting back down on the chair beside his bed.

Thor looked deep in thought for a moment before giving Loki a look. A look that Loki recognized ever since their childhood.

“Don’t give me that look, brother. What are you planning?”

Thor gave a sly smile before saying, “Who said anything about bringing you back to Asgard?”

Loki let out a laugh. “Odin would be incredibly disappointed to see his golden child scheming against him.”

“Well, nothing can stop me from helping my little brother,” Thor said and Loki paused. A warmth feeling built up inside him. It felt like a long time since he sat down and had a conversation like this with Thor. "I will go back to Asgard, get Eir and explain the situation to father."

"Good luck with that," Loki scoffed.

"Afterwards I will bring you back to Asgard," Thor added but Loki didn't say anything.

“How are you going to Asgard, then? You’ll need the tesseract. I doubt the mortals would give it to you now that they know you’re harboring a war criminal.”

“As far as they know, you have escaped and they cannot find you,” Thor said and Loki felt himself relax a little.

“What about you?” He asked and Thor raised an eyebrow.

“What about me?”

“I mean, what’s your alibi?”

Thor shrugged. “I told them I would be trying to locate you and it will take a few days to do so.”

Loki smirked. “Not bad.”

“I learnt from the best.”

They sat in silence, basking in the moment before Thor slowly got up again. “I need to get to SHIELD and retrieve the tesseract.”

“Wait!” Loki shouted and Thor paused his movements.

“What now, Loki?”

“Please, stay with me,” he pleaded and Thor had a conflicted look on his face.

“You’re poisoned.”

“The healing stone restored my health and I feel better now. Eir can wait,” he persuaded and Thor reluctantly sat back down again.

He noticed Thor looked a little worse for wear. There were bags under his eyes and he looked tired.

“When was the last time you slept? You look like you just wrestled a bilgesnipe,” Loki commented and Thor let out a small smile.

“I don’t remember.”

After a moment, Loki scooched over further into the bed. “You should sleep, Thor,” he said and Thor looked confused.

“What?”

“You heard me the first time,” he said and Thor hesitantly laid down beside Loki. The bed groaned under the combined weight of Thor and Loki. His body felt stiff, as if he was unable to relax and Loki sighed.

“I can feel it,” he said and Thor raised his head slightly from the pillow.

“Feel what?”

“I can feel your curiosity. You have many questions in your head right now.”

There was a long, awkward silence before Thor spoke up.

“I don’t understand.”

“Understand what?” Loki asked. “You don’t understand many things. You have to be more specific on what you don’t understand this time,” he jested but got no response.

“One moment ago, we were fighting. Suddenly, you’re not fighting. You’re injured, on the brink of death. You were severely sick, poisoned. When you woke up, you called me brother. You looked relief that I was alive,” he said and Loki stayed quiet. When he didn’t respond, Thor turned to look at Loki.

“You are hiding something from me. You have a lot of secrets but this time it’s different. You are plagued with night terrors-“ Loki tensed at the mention of this but Thor continued. “-you talked a lot in your sleep. I’m conflicted on whether this is just another act and when I wake up, you will be gone.”

“Why didn’t you just turn me in to your mortal heroes then? If you’re so unsure about me.”

“Because you’re my brother, despite whatever you may think. You’ve changed a lot since I saw you a year ago. When I confronted you at the cliff after I first arrived on Earth, you were cold and angry but I had a glimmer of hope that my brother was in there somewhere. But even I know that people don’t just change. Something must have happened at the balcony when you suddenly keeled over in pain, random wounds showing up. You even told the Captain of America how to close the portal.”

“I did?” Loki asked. He wasn’t sure, his memories of that day were hazy.

“You may be the smarter one between both of us but even I know something must have happened for you to be so out of character,” Thor added.

“There’s more,” Loki said softly after a long pause and Thor slowly nodded.

“I thought I could do it, hand you over to SHIELD and sentence you in Asgard but when I saw that the brother I knew was back, I just couldn’t think,” Thor said while playing with the blanket that barely covered him.

“I’m surprised you could even think,” he couldn’t help but say sarcastically and Thor laughed, accepting the joke.

“I just couldn’t let you go. Not when I have my brother back,” he ended softly and Loki gazed at his brother.

Loki debated on whether to tell Thor about the Statesman but decided not to. Thinking about his failure back at the Statesman made his heart ache. He was afraid that telling about the titan might just increase Thor’s chance of dying, knowing how brash he is.

“I was hoping to get an explanation out of you but you should rest for now,” he said and Loki rolled his eyes.

“You look even worse than me right now.”

Thor chuckled before Loki felt his body relax.

“Every time I feel like sleeping, I would be scared that when I open my eyes again you would be gone,” Thor admitted and Loki felt a pang of guilt.

“I will be here when you open your eyes, brother,” he promised.

There was a heavy silence before Thor spoke.

“I wish I could trust you, brother,” he said before slowly falling asleep, tired.

Loki didn’t say anything but his mind wandered back to what Thor had said on Svartalheim five years ago before going against Malekith.

It was the exact same words and the exact same voice. He couldn’t deny that this is his brother now. He’s alive now but for how long? Now that he has not only failed to control Midgard but also to obtain the tesseract, Thanos’s threat won’t be far behind.

Loki suddenly remembered the space stone he held in his hands before he blacked out. Maybe he still has it?

After glancing at Thor to make sure he was asleep, Loki lifted his forearm to check for the seidr in him. He willed his seidr to come forth and it did, but only a little bit. The green tendrils of his seidr glowed and showed itself beneath his skin before it turned back to its normal pale color.

Maybe the stone is in his pocket dimension.

But it was just a theory.

He took a deep breath before using his seidr to search his pocket dimension. It took a while but then he felt something in his fisted hand. He let out a nervous breath before opening his hand to reveal the space stone laying innocently in his palm, glowing a beautiful blue.

He took in a sharp breath and vanished it back into his pocket dimension with a wave of his hand.

Everything comes to one piece now. That is a solid confirmation that he has traveled back in time. This knowledge could be dangerous. The only think he could do now is make sure that Thanos does not get word of Loki’s knowledge.

But still, how was it possible?

For the whole night, he pondered on the subject, coming up with many theories that seem to meet dead ends until sleep eventually overcame him.

But one thing is sure for Loki.

He was determined to make sure Thor does not suffer the same fate that he did on the Statesman.

No matter what it takes.

* * *

“Any sign of him?” Fury asked, looking outside of the window of his office. The office overlooked a big lake and there were skyscrapers in the distance.

“Not yet, sir,” Steve answered effortlessly. The lie rolled off his tongue easily. He had a poker face, something he was used to do.

“How did he even get away?” Fury questioned, turning to slowly walk towards his desk before taking a seat in his wheeled office chair.

“Thor said that Loki teleported away in the midst of chaos and-“

“Yes, I know what Thor said. I was there when he said it, Rogers,” Fury interrupted before rubbing a hand over his face. “We need to find him before he tries to pull a stunt like this again.”

“But sir, he doesn’t have the tesseract,” he said and Fury shook his head.

“Last year, he almost destroyed a small town in New Mexico using a giant killer robot. Just a few days ago, he opened a portal that allowed aliens to come through and almost destroy New York,” Fury said. “Now, soldier, what do you make of this?”

Steve hesitated before answering. “I think that Loki isn’t strong on his own. He needs other people to do his work for him.”

Fury shook his head, slightly turning in his chair. “It means that we don’t know the full extent of his power yet. Thor said that Loki specializes in magic and sorcery. He might be one of the most dangerous beings out there.”

Steve felt a bit of guilt eat away at his heart. He helped one of the most dangerous beings out there and now he’s lying to Nick Fury’s face. That’s just great.

“Do you want us to do a sweep in the city again, sir?” He asked. The one eyed man stood up.

“No. I want you to lead my men for a search outside the city,” Fury asked, putting both his arms against the desk before leaning forward. “Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir,” he answered before Fury dismissed him.

He walked out of the office and closed the door behind him. As much as he wanted to help Thor, he can’t lie much longer. Fury is going to catch up sooner or later and they have to figure out what to do with Loki.

 _I need to meet up with Thor_ , he thought as he pressed the elevator button. He entered the elevator and pressed the ground floor button. The elevator moved downwards. However, after moving down a few floors it stopped and the door opened to reveal Natasha.

She entered the elevator and stood beside him, both of them facing the door. There was an awkward silence before Natasha opened her mouth.

“Fury asked you to go search again?” She asked and he nodded.

“Yeah,” he said and they both were silent again. This elevator ride suddenly feels so long for him.

“I’m gonna be upfront about this. What are you hiding?” She suddenly asked and Steve’s head whipped towards her in shock. She didn't look angry or upset but instead held a neutral expression as she eyed him.

_She knows?_

“I’m not,” he lied but now that he’s blown his cover with his shocked expression, it didn’t sound very convincing.

“Whatever it is you’re hiding, I’m assuming it has something to do with Loki,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and he didn’t respond.

Shortly after, the elevator stopped at the ground floor. The doors opened and he was about to step out when Natasha stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He froze but didn’t turn around.

“We’ve known each other for only a short amount of time but I trust you, Steve. However, compromising with the enemy won’t do you any good. Fury won’t be happy when he finds out about this,” she said but he still didn’t respond. He doesn’t want her to know more than she already does.

“Don’t let Clint know about this,” she said and he turned around at the mention of his fellow teammate.

“He’s already upset enough that Loki escaped. He’s been leading search teams and barely sleeping. His grudge against Loki is only gonna make him snap if he knows you’re compromising with him,” she added and his eyes held a flash of guilt before turning away.

He walked briskly towards the exit of the SHIELD building but no matter how fast he walks, he knows that she’s going to tail him at some point. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the grammar mistakes. Reviews and kudos are extremely appreciated! Thank you


	3. What happened to you, brother?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor recalls his conversation with Banner before going to Asgard to get Eir, Nick Fury has trust issues and Steve leads a search team to 'search' for Loki around the area of the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains implied torture, read at your own risk.
> 
> Sorryyy this chapter was way way wayyy longer than I had anticipated. I tried to shorten it but it was hard to do so without leaving some things out. This chapter was a bit hard to write but hopefully I did ok. And thank you for the reviews from the previous chapter! <3

Thor's eyes slowly opened from his dreamless sleep, unpleasantly taking in the shining ceiling light above him. He could hear the sound of birds chirping outside. Everything felt so warm and nice.

He felt well rested for the first time in forever. He closed his eyes again, his body feeling heavy and not wanting to wake up just yet.

It's been a long time since he slept this soundly naturally. He hasn't slept since he brought Loki...

Thor's thoughts trailed off before he sat up in the bed quickly, alarmed.

 _Loki!,_ Thor thought and his eyes quickly darted to his brother who was in deep sleep beside him, still in that white flimsy garb Stark provided him, his back turned towards Thor and he let out a breath of relief. He put a hand on his chest to calm his rapidly beating heart.

_Loki is there with him. It is not a dream. Loki is safe here with him. Loki did not run away._

After a while of sitting in the bed, Thor got up, slowly so that he would not wake Loki up. He paused when Loki let out a groan in his sleep but then continued to the bathroom.

He trust that Loki would not run away while he is gone.

Thor stripped away his sweatpants and shirt and hung them on a cloth hook behind the bathroom door before stepping into the shower and turning it on.

He stood motionless in the shower as he recalled the conversation he had with Bruce a few days ago.

_Shortly after Stark resuscitated Loki, he left them in the abandoned rundown apartment, saying that he isn't a trained medical professional like Banner. The whole time Stark was gone, he stayed with Loki, unable to take his eyes off him._

_Almost a whole day after the battle of New York started, Stark arrived to the rundown apartment that he had asked Thor and Loki to stay put in._

_It was night time, and Thor sat at Loki's bedside when he heard footsteps approaching the door of the apartment._

_"Tony, are you sure this is a good idea?" He heard Banner's voice said in the distance as the door to the apartment opened._

_"Look, it's not my idea, okay? Steve was very persistent about it. As much as I hate the guy, he's not stupid about everything," Tony's voice answered, much clearer than Bruce's voice now that the door to the apartment is open._

_Footsteps approached the room and Thor tensed, glancing at the door._

_"Thor, I brought Brucie here!" He heard Tony call and as soon as both of the men entered, he got up in a defensive stance, ready to defend Loki should anyone hurt him._

_"Woah, big guy!" Stark exclaimed, putting both of his arms in a surrendering position. "We're not here to hurt baby brother. Bruce is here to help," he said to reassure Thor._

_Thor's hand gripped mjolnir tightly and his eyes caught Banner, who was standing behind Stark. Thor eyed the doctor, who was holding a suitcase, warily before pointing towards him using mjolnir._

_"You will give your word that you will not harm my brother," he said and Banner's eyes widened before he shook his head rapidly._

_"No! No, we're not gonna hurt your brother. We're trying to help him, okay?" Banner tried to assure Thor but he didn't back down._

_"Thor, I need to go to your brother to check on him. I can't help your brother if you don't let me so you put down your hammer, okay?"_

_Thor slowly lowered down mjolnir hesitantly, but did not let go of its hilt. Banner cautiously walked towards Loki and examined him for a moment before turning to Thor._

_“Thor, I need to take of Loki’s clothes to inspect further injuries,” Banner said. “Can I do that?”_

_“Yes, Banner,” Thor said and the doctor wasted no time in trying to take off Loki’s Asgardian garb before giving up and looking at Thor with an exasperated look._

_“Can you help me take this off?” Banner asked and Thor nodded, bending over to take off his brother’s clothes but it was hard to do so with one hand still holding mjolnir._

_Stark seemed to notice this and spoke, “It’s okay, Thor. We’re not gonna hurt Loki. Bruce is just here to do his job. If we wanted to hurt him, we would’ve told SHIELD about Loki before we even step foot out of my tower.”_

_Thor looked up at Stark. “Look, if we somehow hurt Loki, then I give you permission to smash my head with your hammer. How about that?” He asked sarcastically but it seemed to calm Thor down enough to put his hammer down._

_“I trust you, Stark,” Thor said, voice low as he set mjolnir down on the floor beside the bed._

_“Um, thanks,” he replied._

_Thor did most of the job stripping Loki of his garbs. It was complicated but when he finally did, he almost threw up at what he saw._

_Scars littered Loki’s body, some of them looked like stabbing injuries. There were also flogging marks and dark spots that looked like burn marks. There were bruises on his ribs._

_"Fuck," Stark breathed out._

_“Oh, God,” he heard Bruce mutter but it felt like the world is fading away around him. All he could see was the scars that covered his brother’s body._

_No, how could anyone do this to his brother._

_Who hurt his brother?_

_Tears welled up in his eyes as thunder rumbled in the distance. He could only wonder what Loki had been through when he fell into the void. They couldn’t even see him, so far away he was from Asgard._

_He could have looked for his brother. He could have at least tried. But no, he let Loki go all by himself. All alone in the vast and big universe._

_“Thor?” He heard Banner’s voice call but he didn’t care. The lone light above them flickered as the lightning struck loudly outside, the blinding flash of light from the lightning casting their shadows on the wall._

_“Point break, I need you to control yourself,” Stark said nervously but he almost couldn’t hear over the sound of his own breathing._

_He let Loki get hurt. He let someone hurt Loki._

_What kind of a big brother is he?_

_Lightning struck again, harder and a car began blaring its alarms as it began to rain._

_“Thor!” Stark shouted and that seemed to snap Thor out of it._

_Banner’s face was already a bit green and this made Thor tone down his thunder a little._

_“Someone hurt my brother,” he said darkly and Stark shook his head._

_“I know, Thor. I do. But doing your lightning show here isn’t gonna make Loki better. We don’t wanna risk hurting Loki so why don’t you calm down a bit, yeah?” Stark insisted and Thor slowly calmed down. The rain slowly receded, but didn’t go away._

_“You okay, Bruce?” Stark asked and the man nodded before adjusting his glasses._

_“I’m going to examine him,” Banner said slowly and went to check up on Loki._

_“I need a break,” Stark muttered, walking out of the room but paused to turn around, one hand on the door frame. “You wanna sit this one out, Thor?” Stark asked and Thor shook his hand._

_“Thank you, Man of Iron. But I don’t think I will,” he said, eyes on his brother’s form._

_“Okay then,” he walked out to the tiny living room of the house but after a moment he stuck his head back in._

_“You can just call me Tony, by the way,” he said and Thor gave a small, barely noticeable smile._

_“Thank you, Tony.”_

_The whole time Banner checked up on Loki, he never took his eyes of his brother. The horrible state of his injuries, the gash, the wound on his forehead, the bruised ribs and many more._

_It couldn’t have been him._

_His mind wandered back to what happened at Stark tower’s balcony. Why did his brother suddenly snap and looked frantic. How did he suddenly get those injuries? How did he get those stab wounds just now?_

_So many questions running inside his head but he didn’t know what to do._

_Even after banner finished checking up on Loki, he still sat at his brother’s bedside. There are so many thoughts and scenarios he came up about the scars on his body, how he got them, who gave it to him._

_“Thor, you okay?” Banner’s voice disturbed his thoughts and he looked up with a ‘huh?’. The man was standing awkwardly, picking up his medical equipment and packing it back into the suitcase on the other side of Loki’s bed, opposite Thor._

_“I’m fine, Banner,” he said as he turned his head to look back at Loki’s unconscious form. Thor had used a healing stone to heal the injury on Loki’s head and the bruises on his ribs. However, the ugly gash was still very much visible in contrast with Loki’s pale skin._

_“Oh, um, just call me Bruce,” he said and Thor nodded._

_“Thank you, Bruce. Even though Loki has hurt your planet, you still aid him. You will always be in my debt,” Thor said with a slight bow._

_“It’s no problem, Thor. He’s a patient. After all, even the worse of criminals have rights here,” he said and Thor frowned in confusion._

_“Rights?”_

_“Yeah, rights. Like the right to receive medical treatment. Don’t you have that in Asgard?” Bruce asked and Thor slowly shook his head at this._

_“Oh… that’s… unfortunate.”_

_They sat in silence while Bruce dressed Loki up in the flimsy white hospital garb that Tony provided._

_“Something on your mind?” Bruce asked as he pulled down the garb to cover Loki’s thigh._

_After hesitating for a moment, Thor answered. “I need to know where those scars came from,” he said and Bruce paused his movements._

_“Um, about that, I need to talk to you about something,” Bruce said and took off his glasses to clean them with his shirt before putting it back on._

_“What is it?” Thor asked but didn’t make a move to get up from chair and Bruce shook his head._

_“I think it’s better if we talk outside,” Bruce said and Thor gave one last look at Loki before standing up and going to the small living room with Bruce in tow. He took a seat one of the couches and Bruce did the same._

_“I need to tell you something.”_

_“Tell me what?”_

_“It’s about Loki,” he said and Thor’s back straightened up in his seat, his attention fully on Bruce now._

_“What about him?” He asked, his tone defensive and ready to shoot down whatever negativity Bruce has to say about Loki._

_“The gash looks severely infected and there are multiple stab wounds on him. Some look pretty recent. He has a ton of flogging scars. Also, judging by the bruises on his ribs, for now I’m going to assume that he has a few fractured ribs. I want to treat him but I don’t have the equipment. I can’t bring a ton of medical equipment here without looking suspicious to SHIELD,” he said. “I would also like to give an IV drip for him but normal needles can’t pierce your skin, right?” Bruce asked and Thor slowly nodded in agreement._

_“There’s really not much I can do for Loki.” Bruce shook his head with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Thor.”_

_“It’s… it is alright, Bruce. You already aided a lot,” Thor’s voice was low and sad._

_“Is there anything that can help Loki heal that you know?” Bruce tried to suggest and Thor looked deep in thought before his eyes widened, remembering his sachet full of healing stones tied to his waist._

_“I have healing stones,” he said as he untied the sachet and dumped the contents into his hands. “I hope it’s enough,” he added after counting the stones._

_“How does this work?” he asked as he eyed the stones in Thor’s hand curiously._

_“You crush it on the injured area and it heals the area. It works better on minor injuries,” Thor explained and Bruce nodded._

_“I guess that could help, even if it’s just a little bit.” Thor carefully put the healing stones back in the sachet._

_“I would also suggest that you don’t mention about the scars to Loki,” Bruce said and Thor quickly stood up._

_“Why?”_

_“It’s just that-“_

_“I need to know who hurt him!” Bruce jumped at Thor’s shout._

_“Yeah, Thor, I understand what you’re feeling right now but we don’t know what Loki’s mental state is right now,” he advised and Thor deflated a bit before sitting back down on the couch. “For now, just give Loki some space and don’t dwell on it.”_

_Thor pondered upon it for a moment. While it’s true that he wanted to find whoever that had hurt Loki and strike them down, he couldn’t deny that Bruce’s words held some truth in it. Loki looked like he clearly had been through a lot and Thor’s brashness will only hurt him more._

_Thor sighed before nodding. “You are right. I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said._

_“It’s fine. When the time comes, maybe Loki will share his story,” Bruce said with a small smile of encouragement and Thor returned the favor._

_They sat there, listening to the sound of crickets in the night. The walls of the apartment were thin and the windows were boarded up, making the sound of the crickets all the more louder._

_The rain had stopped and was replaced by the sound of crickets. The crickets reminded him of those nights he would go camping with Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three. The sound of the crickets could be heard in the forest.They would always tell stories of their victories around the campfire and Loki would often illustrate it using his magic, making it even more entertaining._

_Oh, how he missed those moments._

_“When we were children,” Thor started and Bruce turned to Thor with a hum of curiosity. He continued, “I would always be raving on about how I would always protect my brother no matter what. That I would always protect him from the frost giants.”_

_“Frost giants?” Bruce asked and Thor nodded._

_“Yes, frost giants, also known as Jotuns. They are a race of giants that live in Jotunheim. The land was cold and barren. About a thousand years ago, Asgard went to war against Jotunheim and we won. As a result of that, the people of Asgard hated the Jotuns and would often describe them as monsters. There were even nursery rhymes about how the Jotuns would eat children if they sleep late,” Thor described with a chuckle before the smile fell from his place and his expression was replaced with sadness. “I see now that it was very wrong of us to do so.”_

_“No offense, Thor. Isn’t that, you know, racist?” Bruce questioned slowly, voice small in fear that he would upset Thor._

_“Racist?”_

_“Yeah, racist. It means that you’re prejudice and discriminative towards a person from another race,” Bruce explained and Thor slowly nodded._

_“Yes, I guess you could say that,” Thor said softly. “Loki and I were often taught to hate Jotuns, given Asgard’s history with them. Loki was pretty quiet about it but I would always make my hatred against them very apparent. I even told my father that I would slay them all someday.”_

_Bruce grimaced and Thor winced at his reaction._

_“As Loki and I grew up, we began to grow distant. He began practicing sorcery while I would wrestle at the training grounds. Many people shamed him for it, calling it a womanly art. I have to admit, I would occasionally join them in berating Loki,” Thor gulped and Bruce frowned._

_“You bullied him?” He asked and Thor nodded before continuing._

_“I always said that I would protect him but in the end, I hurt him. And there’s nothing I can do to fix that. We would sometimes go on hunts and missions together. I would always be happy without realizing how hurt Loki is inside.” Thor sniffed._

_“Are you okay?” Bruce asked, worry in his eyes but Thor shrugged him away._

_“Yes, yes. Now where was I? Ah, yes, Loki is hurt. And I did nothing to help him. Over time, Loki began to trick and pull pranks on people for entertainment. Many people hated him for it, but I personally feel like their personal grudge to Loki had nothing to do with the pranks and more to do with the fact that he practices sorcery,” he said and rubbed his face._

_“On the day of my coronation, a few frost giants sneaked into Asgard. I was angered that they ruined my coronation and I marched upon Jotunheim with Loki and my friends, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three,” Thor said and Bruce paled, knowing the direction this story is going._

_“Oh, no,” he muttered._

_“I killed a lot of frost giants that day. And somehow during the chaos, a frost giant touched Loki.”_

_Bruce frowned and turned to Thor. “Touch? What’s supposed to happen if they touch you?”_

_“When a frost giant touches you, their touch is so cold that you will get frostbitten. But when the frost giant touched Loki, his arm turned blue, which is the color of the frost giants.”_

_“Oh…” Bruce trailed off and took a deep breath. “That is a lot to take in.”_

_Thor nodded in agreement. “This broke Loki in many ways. Not only that, he also found out he’s the biological son of Laufey, King of the frost giants.” Thor inhaled a sharp breath as tears began to burn his eyes. “I cannot imagine how painful it was for him to go through this alone while I was banished from Asgard as punishment for almost starting a war with the frost giants.”_

_“You were banished?”_

_“Aye, my friend. My father banished me to Earth and enchanted mjolnir so that whoever is worthy shall lift it,” he said and Bruce looked deep in thought._

_“What happened then?”_

_“Well, it seemed like Loki wanted to prove that he isn’t as ‘monstrous’ as the frost giants and set out to destroy Jotunheim-“_

_“Destroy Jotunheim? How do you even destroy an entire planet?” Bruce was more interested and sat up straighter in his chair, pushing his glasses back using his index finger._

_“I forgot to tell you. The bifrost is a means of traveling from one realm to another. The bifrost uses an enormous amount of power and if left unchecked, it could destroy even an entire planet,” he explained and Bruce was wide eyed as he absorbed the fact._

_“That is a large amount of energy,” he muttered and Thor nodded._

_"Loki stated how he never wanted the throne and only ever wanted to be my equal but I do admit, he was always overshadowed by me.” Thor rubbed both hands on his face with a shaky sigh. “Loki killed Laufey, his biological father before he turned on the bifrost to destroy Jotunheim. By this time, I had gained my worth back and returned to Asgard. I couldn’t let the bifrost destroy Jotunheim. Therefore, I destroyed it,” he said and Bruce’s eyes widened._

_“You just destroyed it?” he asked but Thor didn’t say anything. “Imagine what that kind of technology could benefit people on Earth and you just destroyed it?” He questioned again and Thor winced._

_“The bifrost created what you mortals would call a wormhole. Loki and I were about to fall into the wormhole but our father saved us. Loki said that he did everything he did for our father and the people of Asgard. My father told him ‘no’ and…”_

_Thor trailed off and Bruce got concerned. “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” he tried to reassure but Thor shook his head and continued his retelling of Loki’s inevitable fall._

_“Loki let go and fell into the wormhole.”_

_There was a heavy silence between them as the tears finally trickled down Thor’s cheeks._

_“I couldn’t save him,” Thor sobbed and Bruce hesitantly reached over to offer Thor a comforting pat on the back._

_“It’s okay, Thor. There was nothing you could do,” Bruce said but knew that it wasn’t enough to make Thor feel better._

_“If only I had just treated him better! If only I had just-“ his sentence was interrupted by another sob wracking his body. Bruce could only watch as Thor muttered incoherent words._

_“I could only imagine what he went through in the void,” he cried. “I should have looked for him.”_

_Bruce thought about what to say to Thor. “You need to be strong for Loki, okay?”_

_“He thought himself a monster,” Thor bawled and Bruce tense. Now that he thought about it, he could see a bit of a parallel between himself and Loki. Both of them thought themselves monsters and had a deep self-hatred for it._

_Thor began to take in short, ragged breaths and continued muttering about how he couldn’t safe Loki and the scientist immediately recognized this reaction._

_“Thor? Thor. Look at me,” he said urgently and approached Thor closer. When the demi God didn’t do as he said, he grasped both of Thor’s shoulders and knelt down to look at him in the eyes._

_“Deep breaths, Thor. Come on,” he said and Thor looked around the room frantically, panicking._

_“The worst part is that I still don’t fully trust Loki even though he is my brother!”_

_“Breathe with me, Thor. Come on, breathe with me.” Bruce took a long deep breath and held it for a few seconds before breathing out. He repeated the action multiple times and until Thor slowly followed suite, breathing at the same time as Bruce although his breaths were shaky._

_This continued on for a few minutes, until Thor’s shoulders slowly relaxed under Bruce’s hands. The sound of the crickets still continued on, as if unbothered by what Thor had gone through just now._

_“Do you always get panic attacks like this?” Bruce asked hesitantly after a few minutes of sitting in silence and Thor slowly nodded._

_“Sometimes I do, after Loki’s fall. Mother would always be there to comfort me,” he said as Bruce walked back to the couch he sat on just now._

_“Is that what you call them? Panic attacks?” Thor asked after a moment and Bruce nodded. Even a demi God like Thor could get panic attacks, Bruce thought._

_"I've seen patients with panic attacks before," he said softly._

_They sat silently, listening only to the crickets and Thor occasionally looking at rays of moonlight that entered through the gaps of the boarded up windows._

_Bruce was deep in thought about what Thor had said about Loki._

_The Loki that Thor described was nothing like the Loki that had come to Earth a few days ago. The Loki that Thor described was in a way, more child-like. He only wanted to prove to the people around him that he was as good as Thor is. Loki’s childhood sounded complicated, riddled with bullying and self-hatred._

_Something felt fishy here. If Loki was so hell bent on not wanting a throne, why try to subjugate Earth?_

_As Bruce pondered on, he was left with more questions than answers._

* * *

"You gave Thor the tesseract, sir?" Maria Hill asked as she and Fury watched Thor activate the tesseract and disappear in a blue hue of energy.

"Are you questioning my decision, Agent Hill?" Fury asked, turning to her. His lone eye gazing dangerously.

“No, sir. It’s just that I thought you don’t trust Thor,” she said, her ponytail dancing in the wind.

He didn’t say anything for a few moments, as if to give her a chance to wonder in thought about his actions.

“I don’t trust him,” he said and it was true. Ever since Loki’s disappearance, Fury didn’t have a reason to trust Thor. Thor also acted suspicious, constantly in a daze and not in the mood.

“But,” he added. “I can’t risk starting a war with a race of highly advanced beings that know magic. Thor is Asgard’s prince, all the more reason to be careful around him. However, if we find evidence that he’s helping Loki in any shape or form, then we have a reason to detain him.”

She nodded understandingly. “Sir, in any case that Loki acts up again, how do we go up against him? Like you said before, he could be one of the most dangerous beings on Earth right now.”

Fury smirked and turned around to walk back into the entrance leading inside of the helicarrier. Hill followed closely behind him as they left the hangar.

“I will assign Stark to study Loki’s scepter,” he said and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Thor said that the stone in Loki’s scepter is of a similar nature with the tesseract. If we could harness the power the same way we did to the tesseract, we would be able to create a weapon strong enough to take down Loki.”

“But, sir, you’ve seen Stark’s reaction when he found out the blueprints for the plans to create weapons strong enough to harness the energy of the tesseract. I don’t think he will be too keen on helping to create more weapons,” she said, recalling when Stark hacked into SHIELD’s database, uncovering the blueprints and starting a conflict between them and the avengers.

“You’re right. But we’re only asking for _one_ weapon, not a whole bunch enough to supply an army. It will be used to detain Loki and nothing more than that. Stark should already know how dangerous Loki is and proceed with the plan,” he explained and gave her a look when he saw the conflicted look on her face. “Do you propose a better plan, Agent Hill?”

She let out a polite smile. “No, sir.” She knew better than to go against him.

“Good. Now tell Rogers to lead a search team outside the city. There’s a possibility that Loki could be hiding in somewhere abandoned and secluded.”

* * *

As soon as the vans stopped, Steve opened the door and got out. The Strike team agents followed suite, getting out of the black vans that all have the SHIELD logo on it.

Steve scanned the area that he was assigned to do the search at. The area was abandoned but there were still a few civilians living there, according to what he was told.

He held his shield tightly as he let out a breath, eyeing the big lone apartment in the distance that held Loki.

Earlier that day, he had told Stark to stay in the apartment and keep an eye on Loki while Thor was gone. The man let out an unpleasant grunt but complied anyway.

“What’s the plan captain?” A man named Brock Rumlow asked. He had been given strict orders by Fury to follow Steve’s command.

“We will be separated into four teams. The first team, led by Piper, will search those buildings over there,” he pointed to a group of buildings behind him. “The second team, which will be led by Rumlow, will search those group of buildings,” he motioned to more buildings beside him. “While the third team, led by me, will search those buildings,” he commanded, pointing towards a group of buildings nearer to the apartment that had Loki in it. “The forth team will set up a perimeter. Make sure no one goes in or out of the area while we search it,” he finished, hands on his hips.

“Are we clear?” He asked and a few of the agents muttered their ‘yes’s.

“Captain, what about the building over there?” Rumlow asked, looking at the apartment and Steve tensed.

He thought about saying that the building is off limits but decided against it. It will look too suspicious. Instead, he squared up his shoulders and walk threateningly towards Rumlow as a show of dominance.

“Are you questioning my orders?” He asked as Rumlow and Steve exchanged a look, both clearly suspicious towards each other before the agent backed down and nodded.

“You heard the captain! Split into four teams!” Rumlow shouted the order and the agents scrambled into teams of equal numbers.

The search began and Steve made sure that no one entered the apartment. After a while though, he led a small team into the apartment, as a show for him to look convincing to Fury. He made sure no one entered Loki’s floor and room and the agents dutifully followed his orders.

“All clear, captain,” one of the agents said to him as they exited the building. He let out a small sigh of relief, thankful he didn’t get caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao I still have trouble differentiating between safe and save. Aaaaahhhhh sorry this chapter is extremely long. Please feel free to review and leave kudos! It is greatly appreciated <3


	4. Speculation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony argue while Bruce continues to speculate about Loki. Tony has to unwillingly babysit Loki while Eir checks on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of torture and suicide. Read at your own risk.
> 
> Sorry this chapter was a bit delayed! I was celebrating Eid Mubarak with my family. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the nice reviews and kudos. It really means a lot to me. I would also like to wish Happy Eid Mubarak and stay safe!

Bruce stared at the notes in his hand but his mind wandered somewhere else entirely. He mind kept going back to when Thor opened Loki's Asgardian armor.

Flogging scars.

Stab scars.

Burn marks.

Bruises.

Fresh wounds.

He shuddered just even thinking about it. Part of him wanted to believe that Loki is the one behind the attack but another tiny part of him felt like there was something more sinister behind all of this.

"Bruce."

Could it be torture? Nowthat he thought about it, the mind stone is powerful enough to mind controlothers, who's to say it can't control Loki, right? 

He doesn't want to excuse what Loki did but it's just a theory.

"Bruce!" Tony's voice cut into his thoughts and Bruce jumped in surprise. He looked at Tony, who was studying the scepter. He was in his Black Sabbath t-shirt, the same one he wore on the helicarrier.

"I thought you were going to burn holes in the paper, staring it like that," Tony commented, and Bruce was in a daze for a few seconds before shaking his head to snap out of his thoughts.

"What were we doing again?"

"We are currently building Fury's top secret weapon that will supposedly be used to take out Thor's brother," Tony answered and Bruce replied with an 'oh' before walking over to where Tony and the scepter were.

His eyes were caught on the stone that was resting between the blades of the scepter. It was glowing a dangerous blue but at the same time it looked beautiful. Something out of this world.

Literally.

"Okay, spill," Tony said and Bruce looked up.

"Spill what?" He stuttered, confused.

Tony raised an eyebrow before putting the tool he was using to study the scepter. "Ever since you came back from Thor and Loki's 'apartment'," he wiggled both his index fingers like quotation marks. "You've been so out of it. You keep looking like some wife who's staring out the window wondering when her husband is gonna come back from war."

Bruce was about to answer when a voice cut in.

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

They both turned around to find Captain America walking into the lab in full uniform and shield except he didn't wear his face mask.

"Oh, great, Rogers. So, what's the status with Fury?" Tony asked, adjusting his safety goggles before bending down to look at Loki's scepter again. He made a few motions with his hand an enlarged holographic diagram of the scepter appeared in the middle of the room, making Steve jump. Tony snickered before going back to work.

“Fury hasn’t catch on yet but Natasha knows,” Steve said and Tony tensed. “She won’t tell on Fury. Thor and Loki are safe.” Tony stopped designing the weapon using his hologram and turned to Steve with an annoyed look.

"Safe? You call this safe?"

Bruce's eyes darted between the two, sensing an argument is about to happen.

"Then what do you call it?" Steve shot back and Tony ripped off his safety goggles from his head before looking at Steve in the eye.

"I call it the opposite of that! That's what it is. What are you doing here, Rogers?"

"I came here to give the status for Fury and-"

He stopped talking when Tony scoffed and took a sip of scotch from a small glass he set on the table.

"No. I'm asking what are you doing here, Rogers. Not what are you doing _here_."

Steve looked confused, forehead creasing as he frowned. He took a few steps back.

"Stark, what-"

"Out of the blue! You just decided to help Loki." Tony gave Steve a critical gaze. Bruce thought about breaking up the argument but decided that he also wanted to listen to Steve's explanation. "Why?" he demanded.

Steve looked conflicted and didn't answer, which only angered Tony more.

"We can't hide Loki forever. Fury's already asking me to build a weapon to apprehend Loki and you know I don't agree with this." Tony sighed and sunk into one of the stools in his lab, putting his head in his hands with a sigh of frustration.

"Agree with what?" Steve slowly asked.

"Building weapons! Okay? I was done building weapons of mass destruction but now that you decided to shelter a literal fucking war criminal, I have to build this stupid weapon to make it look like I'm on SHIELD's side so they don't get all up in my ass and try to arrest me," Tony raged, breathing hard as he gulped down huge breaths, leaning against the table.

Steve looked guilty and Bruce chimed in.

"He has a point, Steve. Why are you helping Loki? I'm sure you have a reason for it but why?" He asked and there was a long silence with only Tony's hard breathing and the scepter whirring softly being the only sound present.

Bruce took note of the whirring.

“It’s… complicated,” Steve tried to explain and Tony scoffed.

“Try me,” Tony dared and Bruce noticed him move subtly closer to the scepter resting on the table. Steve, however, did not and was more focused on Tony.

“Loki reminds me of Bucky,” Steve said softly. Bruce raised his head in question while Tony looked confuse.

“Who the hell is Bucky?”

Steve’s face scrunched up in disapproval with Tony’s cursing but answered anyway. “He was my friend. He died in the war.”

There was silence where Steve looked sad and Tony had a flash of guilt before settling with a neutral expression. Steve continued to talk.

“Seeing Thor struggle to help Loki reminded me of Bucky. I wish that I could go back in time and help him.” Steve put his hands on his hips. “I don’t want Thor to live with the same regret that I do,” he added quietly before sitting down on one of the lab stools.

“I’m sorry,” Tony muttered after a while.

During most of the time the two were arguing just now, Bruce had his attention on the scepter, which was displaying suspicious activity similar to when they argued on the helicarrier. Then, he spoke up about his theory.

“I talked to Thor after I checked on Loki a few days ago,” he said. Steve and Tony perked up at the sudden mention of Loki.

He was about to continue when Steve interrupted. “Is it Loki? Did he hurt you?”

Bruce’s eyes widened. “No! No. I just had a conversation with Thor,” he explained and Steve relaxed in his chair.

“He was talking about Loki’s childhood in Asgard. Apparently he had a, I guess you could say, troubled childhood,” he said and Tony raised his eyebrows in question.

“Troubled?”

“He was bullied and basically overshadowed by his brother all the time.” Tony stiffened at the mention of being overshadowed.

“Bullied?” Steve repeated and Bruce nodded.

“Yes, bullied. There’s a lot more to the story but what happened is that last year Loki found out he’s a frost giant.”

“I’m sorry, ‘frost giant’?” Tony asked.

“Frost giants are basically a race that Asgard went to war against. The Asgardians, Thor’s race, hate the frost giants. They’re racist towards the frost giants,” he said and Steve frowned at the mention of racism.

“Long story short, Loki was devastated. He tried to kill all the frost giants using a bifrost. You know, the Einstein-Rosen Bridge,” he said, pushing his glasses while Tony’s eyes widened.

“Seriously? They have an Einstein-Rosen bridge?” Tony asked in disbelief. Steve looked between the two, not understanding the conversation mainly about science.

“An Einstein-Rosen what?”

“Einstein-Rosen bridge,” Tony answered but Steve still didn’t understand. “It’s basically a wormhole.”

“Oh,” Steve nodded understandingly.

“So, what happened?”

“Loki and Thor fought and in the end Thor ended up destroying the bridge and creating a wormhole in space.” Banner paused before sighing, a somber expression on his face. “Loki ended up committing suicide by jumping into a wormhole,” he finished quietly.

No one said anything because no one knew what to say. What do you say when you find out that the person you really hate has an extremely troubled past and ended up trying to commit suicide.

All of a sudden, the door to the lab opened and in walked Thor in his full glory with armor on and mjolnir in his hand. He had a tired and worried expression on his face that made the others pity him.

“Hey, Thor. What are you doing here?” Steve asked and stood up to greet Thor.

“I have come here to inform you that I have brought Eir to Earth to treat Loki,” he said and Tony raised an eyebrow.

“So you just left her to treat Loki? What did Fury say about you bringing her to Earth?”

Thor nodded. “I have told the Director that Eir is a sorceress that will aid in the search of Loki. As for me leaving her with Loki, do not worry my friends. Eir used to train as a Valkyrie before quitting to become a healer. She will not go down without a fight,” Thor crowed happily, proud that he managed to get the healer to Earth.

“So, what do we do now? When Loki heals, what’s going to happen?” Bruce asked from the stool he was sitting on.

“I will bring Loki back to Asgard. I have explained to father about the situation with Loki. He did not seem too happy when I told him that it looks like Loki had a change of heart,” he admitted and Steve gave a slight smile.

“It’s okay, Thor. We’ll do anything we can to help you. After all, we’re a team now. That means we have each others back,” Steve tried to cheer Thor up. Tony rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless at Steve’s words.

“You know what? How about you go visit Doctor Foster while one of us takes care of Loki,” Steve suggested and this seemed to make Thor grin brightly.

“Would it be alright for me to burden you so?” Thor asked.

“It’s fine, Thor. You deserve some rest,” Steve said. “Tony will take care of Loki.” At the mention of this, Tony’s head whipped towards Steve with a heated glare.

“What did you just say?” He asked and Thor smiled.

“That is wonderful!” Thor cheered.

“Oh, come on, Rogers. Don’t make me do this,” he pleaded but Steve shook his head.

“I have to lead more search teams and we can’t afford Doctor Banner to hulk out without another Avenger there to keep watch,” Steve responded. Bruce perked up when he heard his name.

“Sorry,” he muttered sheepishly.

“But what about this weapon I have to make?”

“It’s alright. Doctor Banner can handle that,” Steve countered.

Tony groaned in anger but before he got to protest, the others were already continuing on with their task at hand and walking out the lab.

* * *

Loki unwillingly opened his eyes, ungracefully welcoming the light above him with a groan. He barred his teeth when he felt a piercing headache and pressed a hand on his forehead.

“How are you feeling, Prince Loki?” He heard a familiar woman’s voice ask and squinted his eyes to try and focus on the figure that asked him the question.

“Is he okay?” Another voice asked. A man’s voice.

“He will be after he drinks this elixir,” she said and Loki’s eyes slowly focused. She turned her attention back to Loki and his eyes finally focused enough to see her.

It was Eir.

“Can you see me, Prince Loki?” She asked again and Loki slowly nodded. “Good,” she said.

He tried to get up and managed to prop himself up on his elbows. Eir was putting a few small bottles of elixirs on a small table beside the bed. That was also when he noticed Tony Stark sitting on a chair beside the bed. The man was in full iron man armor with the faceplate down, covering his bearded face.

He looked around but Thor was nowhere to be found. He suppressed a sigh of disappointment, assuming that Thor had duties that he should attend to.

“Please drink these elixirs, Prince Loki. They will help expel the poison in your blood and replenish your energy. However, I would recommend eating before drinking these,” she said but Loki kept his eyes on Stark, who did the same towards Loki. Even though he can’t see his face, he knew that Stark was spotting an unhappy look behind the mask.

After not getting a reply, Eir politely excused herself to the living room of the small apartment.

There seemed to be silence before Stark asked, “What is it?”

Loki raised an eyebrow before fully sitting up on the bed. “What do you mean? You have to be more elaborate than that.”

“What’s your game here? You play the sick little brother to gain Thor’s trust and then you betray him? That’s what you’re doing here?” He asked and Loki clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.

“I just woke up and you’re already interrogating me? My, you waste no time in getting to work.”

“Just answer the question, Rudolph,” he said, voice metallic-ish because of the mask.

"Rudolph? You mortals and your stupid nicknames," he scoffed but Stark didn't say anything. He thought about not answering but decided that maybe he would indulge this human. "That is not, as you said, 'my game'. I assure you," he said and Stark gave a sarcastic chuckle.

"'I assure you'? Nice words coming from the God of Lies."

Loki scowled dangerously at his words. "Whether you believe me or not, I don't care."

After a long and uncomfortable silence, Stark spoke again. "The invasion," he started and Loki's head perked up.

Ah, yes. The invasion. His memories of the invasion he did six years ago were quite blurry. After all, it had been quite a long time for him and being near the mind stone did no help in making his memories any clearer.

"The chitauri. Are they your army?" He asked and Loki slowly shook his head.

“Why should I answer you?” he asked softly, slowly recalling memories of Thanos and he suppressed a shiver. He didn’t want to look weak in front of Stark of all people.

“I figured,” Stark said and sighed. “When I…” he trailed off and Loki could sense his distress. “I flew a nuke into their mother ship through the portal you opened. It blew up but I could see a few other similar ships in the distance.”

“Thor told Banner what happened. About how you fell into the wormhole-“

Loki’s face flashed in anger at his words and he tried to get up. He stumbled off the bed, falling to the floor. Stark shot up from his chair, causing it to fall on the ground with a loud noise.

“What are you doing?!” Stark asked loudly but he didn’t care. He tried to get up, using the bed as support.

“He had no right to tell!” He yelled. Stark already had his repulsor aiming straight for Loki’s head.

“Look, just get back on the bed and let me finish! Then you can continue being mad,” he said and Loki didn’t answer. Only the sound of his hard breathing was heard.

Loki was conflicted. On one hand, it’s embarrassing to have his story told by someone else but at the same time this man was smart. He could already sense there was something more to this invasion than just Loki and for a second, he was intrigued.

In the end, Loki relented and cautiously sat on the bed. He kept his repulsor aimed at Loki for a few more seconds before slowly lowering his arms.

“You done being all pissy on me?” He asked and Loki glared at him.

“Okay, good.” He picked up the chair and sat it back by the bedside before sitting on it. The chair creaked under the weight of his armor.

“So,” he started. “Let’s say you fell into space and ended up somewhere. Why would they just provide you an army to invade Earth? There has to be a catch,” he tried to pry some sort of explanation from Loki but he stayed quiet. He wasn’t sure whether to trust Stark with his information on Thanos.

The night after the conversation with Thor, he thought long and hard about his course of action. He already knew of Thanos’s plan to collect all the six infinity stones and wipe out half of life in the universe. The best plan Loki could think of was collecting all the infinity stones himself and destroy the stones before Thanos could get to it.

But where is Thor in all of this? He decided to not tell Thor about his death at the hands of Thanos because he did not want Thor to go anywhere near Thanos.

The current Thor isn’t as wise as the Thor he knew on the Statesman. That Thor is gone. This Thor is way more brash and immature. Telling him that Thanos has the ability to kill him would make him angry. He would try to charge at Thanos first and will end up falling into some trap.

Now, the problem is Odin. Odin would surely not let him go with his journey to get the stones. He would most likely send Thor to get him and it would ruin his plan to get the stones without Thor’s involvement.

As much as he hates it, he might just have to let Odin know about his plan.

“So, you’re just not gonna answer?” Stark asked, breaking Loki away from his thoughts.

He looked at Stark and decided that he couldn’t trust Stark to not tell Thor about his death. However, since the genius had some idea of Thanos, maybe it would be fine to share a bit of his knowledge.

Not because he trusts Stark or liked him, but because if worst comes to worse, he would likely need the Avengers help, no matter how humiliating it sounds.

“Why are you doing this? If I say yes would you believe me?”

“Let’s just say, I know what it’s like to be forced to do something bad even when you don’t want to,” Stark finished quietly. Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Maybe he had seen the scars.

“It is none of your business,” he said and Stark nodded.

“I know but if there’s someone else behind this than don’t you think we have the right to know? What if someone else invades Earth? I know you’re an asshole but the way things are looking right now, it sounds like there’s more to the story than just a pissed little brother trying to invade Earth to piss off his brother.”

Loki took a long and hard look at this man. It’s true what he said. He had underestimated the mortal. If he wanted to win against Thanos, maybe he could help.

“Do you believe in time travel?” He blurted out.

“What? Like Back to the Future?” Stark asked and Loki frowned. What in Odin’s beard is ‘Back to the Future’?

“Would you believe me of I tell you that I am from the future?”

Stark stood up, his faceplate opening and Loki could see his face twisted in confusion.

“Would you believe me if I tell you the person who gave me the army is trying to destroy half of all life in the universe?”

“Loki, what-“

They were interrupted when suddenly the door to the apartment opened. Stark flinched at the sound and was about to go to a defensive stance when he heard Thor’s voice greet Eir. He relaxed, lowering his arm.

“Welcome back, Prince Thor,” Eir greeted back.

Thor walked into the room where Loki and Stark are and let out a wide grin when he saw the two.

“Loki, you’re awake!”

Thor had a paper bag in one hand and mjolnir in the other. He looked less tired than he was before.

“How observant you are,” he deadpanned, which made Thor’s grin wider.

“I brought you porridge,” Thor set the paper bag on the table that had the elixirs. “I thought that you might want to eat before drinking the elixirs Eir brought.”

“Thank you,” he muttered and slowly took the paper bag. He opened it and saw porridge wrapped in a paper bowl with plastic covering the top to prevent it from spilling. He took a whiff of smell and it was wonderful.

He quickly took it out from the back along with a plastic spoon. He opened the lid and took a spoonful of porridge.

It sounded like an exaggeration but it felt like he was feasting in the halls of Valhalla.

It had been so long since he had real good food.

He did eat in Sakaar but the food there was horrible. He couldn’t understand how the people there even enjoyed the food.

While eating the porridge, he drowned out Thor’s conversation with Stark and thought about the flow of his plan.

First, he would go to Odin and explain of the plan. Whether or not Odin agrees to it, Loki didn’t care. He would try to make sure that Odin never sends Thor after him. Then he would find all the stones, go to Nidavellir to have them create a gauntlet for the stones, then he would snap Thanos and his army out of existence.

Sounds pretty easy, right?

“How are you feeling, Loki?” Thor asked, causing him to look up from the bowl.

“Yes, I feel better than before,” he replied and Thor sighed in relief.

He drank the elixir. He could feel Stark’s eyes on him, looking at him with suspicion. They didn’t finish the conversation, but Stark knew that he wasn’t wrong about Thanos.

Knowing Stark’s personality from what Agent Barton said six years ago, he would do something to find out about it.

After he was done drinking all the elixirs, he turned to Thor. He should get straight to the point.

“I want to go to Asgard,” he said and Thor’s head turned so fast Loki thought he would get a whiplash.

“You would like to go to Asgard? Go home?” He asked in disbelief and Loki nodded. Thor smiled when Loki didn’t start an argument about the mention of Asgard being his home.

Honestly, he did consider Asgard his home. After years of posing as Odin, Asgard felt like home to him. He spent a lot of years there doing plays, indulging in arts and most importantly, just staying far away from Thanos.

He knew where all the stones are. He would see everything when he sat upon the throne of Hliðskjálf. The throne allowed him to see into the nine realms but not far enough to see into the Sanctuary. He could not see what Thanos had plotted until it was too late.

“I would like to go home now,” he said and Thor’s smile faltered a bit.

“But how though?” Stark interrupted. “The tesseract’s at SHIELD. I doubt they would just merrily send you and Loki back to Asgard without detaining him first.”

Thor nodded with a sad expression. “Unfortunately, Tony is right. It would be suspicious to Fury if I use the tesseract now, even if it’s just to send Eir because I told him Eir would help in Loki’s search.”

“Maybe getting the tesseract won’t be necessary,” he said and summoned the space stone in his palm.

“What?” Thor was confused and his eyes widened when he saw the space stone glowing a beautiful blue as Loki opened his hand.

“What’s going on here? What is that?” Stark asked and it took a few moments before Thor turned towards him.

“That is the space stone. You mortals called it the tesseract,” he explained and Tony gasped, stepping back instinctively and causing loud thumps from his footsteps.

Thor stepped forward and grabbed Loki’s wrist tightly, causing him to wince in pain. “I thought the tesseract is supposed to be at SHIELD, Loki. What trickery is this?”

He shook Loki’s wrist when he didn’t answer right away. “Answer me, Loki!”

“The tesseract is at SHIELD!” He answered, face twisted in pain.

“Then what are you holding right now?!” Thor shouted. Loki tried to pull his hand free but Thor only held tighter.

“I mean no harm with it! I can explain!” He yelled. He didn’t think of what to say, he just wanted to make Thor let him go.

Thor’s grip on his wrist loosened and Loki quickly pulled his hand away from Thor’s grasp. He rubbed his hands on his wrist, trying to observe any damage done.

“You oaf. One minute ago you were so concerned about me that you were willing to buy me food and now you are so ready to hurt me,” he said, eyeing Thor’s guilty expression.

Stark stood silent, for once in his life, watching the two brothers interact.

“How is it possible you have the tesseract, Loki? You said that you would explain.”

Loki sighed, knowing that Thor is very angry but he also can’t explain about the real situation to Thor.

_‘Brother, I time traveled from the future and now I want to kill Thanos before he kills us.’_

Of course, it isn’t that easy. He couldn’t let Thor know just yet.

“I can’t explain,” he admitted and Thor glowered. Stark looked interested but scared at the same time, probably remembering what Loki said about time travel in their previous conversation.

“Look, if we get to Asgard, Odin might be able to explain it to you,” he said and Thor looked surprise.

“Father?”

“Yes.”

“So you propose that we use the time stone you have with you right now to bring us back to Asgard?” Thor asked and Loki nodded. After a long while of hesitating, he agreed. “However, if you hurt Eir or me in any way, you will be punished.”

Loki rolled his eyes at his brother. “Yes, yes. Now let’s move along. I have to talk to Odin.”

“Woah, wait!” Stark cut in and both brothers looked up at him. “What about me? If whatever is happening concerns Earth, shouldn’t I have the right to know?”

After a long silence, Thor nodded in agreement. “The Man of Iron is right.”

Loki raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, “Wouldn’t Odin be angry?” He was reminded of when Jane visited Asgard. While posing as Odin, the maids whispered about Odin’s disapproval of the mortal in Asgard.

“I will explain it to him.”

“So, shall we go?” Loki asked, getting up. He used his seidr to change into his normal Asgardian black and green garb.

“I will never get used to that,” he heard Stark mutter and gave him a smirk.

They all went to the living room, where Eir was sitting elegantly on one of the old and torn couches.

“Eir, we will be going back to Asgard,” Thor said and Loki could see the surprised expression on Eir’s face but it was quickly masked with a calm and composed one. Stark was on the phone, informing Pepper of their plans to go to Asgard. Loki could hear the woman’s surprised voice.

“Yes, my prince,” she said and got up, approaching them where they stood. Stark ended his call and went back to them.

“This might feel a bit uncomfortable,” Loki warned.

“Oh, God,” Stark said as his faceplate went down to cover his face.

“No games, alright Loki?” Thor asked and Loki grinned.

“I assure you, brother. No games.”

After the exchange, they were enveloped by a blue cloud with the color of the space stone. In less than a second, the four of them were gone from the apartment.

* * *

“Clint, you should take a rest,” Natasha said softly to Clint as he pulled out his bow from the box in front of him.

Clint barely slept for days now and she was worried about him. He had been leading search teams to search for Loki. A part of her felt guilty that she had kept the situation with Loki a secret.

She didn’t know much. She just knew that Steve and Tony had helped Loki escape. She managed to see it on Tony’s floor security cameras before he told Jarvis to delete it but it was more than enough for her to make out that something went wrong with Loki which caused Steve to do what he did.

She knew that telling Clint would do no good. It would only make him more upset and stressed knowing that the people he trust are helping Loki behind his back.

Clint might snapped and it would be bad.

“I can’t, Nat. He’s still out there. What if someone else gets hurt because of Loki?” He said as he put a bunch of arrows into his quiver. He put it on and adjusted the quiver strap to make himself more comfortable.

“What about Laura and the kids? I’m sure they miss you a lot,” she tried to convince.

“With Loki out there, they’ll more likely to be in danger if I go back now. I won’t stop until I find that bastard,” he spoke through gritted teeth.

Natasha sighed. Clint won’t stop until he finds Loki. “Then at least sleep for a few hours. Let me lead the search team,” she tried to convince him as they walk to where Fury was in the main control room of the helicarrier.

“I can’t, Nat. I have to do this.”

“Why? You’re pushing yourself too hard,” she said, stopping him with a hand wrapped around his forearm.

Clint sighed, rubbing his face with a hand. “While I was under the scepter. I killed a lot of people. I still remember their faces when I killed them. And I can’t bring them back,” he explained, the guilt in his eyes betraying his neutral expression. “This is the least I can do.”

“Clint, I-“

“Director Fury!” An agent called, causing both their attention to turn towards the main control room. They both looked at each other with curious expressions before running to the main control room, where they saw Fury hunched over an Agent who was sitting in front of one of the computers.

“What is it, Agent?” Fury asked.

“There’s an energy spike similar to the tesseract detected, sir!” The agent answered, clicking away at the computer.

“I need the location, now!” Fury asked as he pushed away from the computer, reaching for his comm, ready to alert the STRIKE team.

“The location is here, sir!” He pointed to a spot on the map in the computer.

Natasha and Clint ran over to see where the location was and Clint’s eyes widened.

“Son of a bitch,” Clint muttered under his breath before turning and running away, going to lead the STRIKE team while Fury yelled into his comm about the situation.

Natasha looked back at the computer.

It was the location Steve searched a few days ago.

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew this chapter was way too long. I just finished writing this at 2am with a really bad stomach ache so the grammar is gonna be sksksk. Shit is about to hit the fan soon so stay tuned! I love you guys reviews and kudos are very much appreciated! <3
> 
> Hliðskjálf- In Norse mythology, Hliðskjálf (Old Norse: [ˈhlið skjɑːlv, -scɑːlv]) is the high seat of the god Odin allowing him to see into all realms (explanation is from Wikipedia)


	5. Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bruce run into trouble while Loki goes to Asgard to try and explain the situation to Odin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains torture, mentions of torture, mind control. Read at your own risk.
> 
> I am so so sorry this chapter is extremely late. I keep procrastinating I need to stop. I hope that you guys are safe and please take care of yourself. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Thor, Loki, Stark and Eir materialized at the edge of the broken bifrost and as soon as they did, they were met with spears pointing right at them, or more specifically, Loki. Stark put his hands up in surrender while Eir took a few steps back.

Thor immediately pushed Loki behind him protectively, earning a glare from the trickster.

“What is the meaning of this?” Thor demanded to know, thrusting mjolnir forward threateningly. However, the einherjar didn’t back down and kept their spears pointed.

“We have direct orders from King Odin to escort the prisoner to the throne room,” one of the einherjar said and Thor frowned.

“But I already explained the situation to father,” Thor sputtered and Loki sighed.

“Did you really think that Odin would let me walk around freely, brother?” He asked Thor but Thor didn’t answer.

“Yeah, Loki has a point,” Stark said, lifting up his faceplate.

Thor pondered for a moment, thinking of a course of action and decided that he wouldn’t hand over Loki to the einherjar.

“It’s alright. I will escort my brother to the throne room with my friend, the Man of Iron,” he said.

“But my prince, the King said-“

“My word is final. Should the King question what happened, let it be on my head,” he vowed, which made one or two einherjar surprised by his willingness to protect Loki.

“Alright then, my prince,” the einherjar said. However, right after he said that, another one walked forward, presenting Thor with chains carved with runes on it.

Thor shook his head at the chains. “That won’t be necessary.”

The einherjar continued to present the chains for a few more seconds before backing down with an apology.

They all walked down the broken bifrost, the einherjars walking behind Loki and Thor, all with their guards up ready to attack. This sight was all too familiar too Loki.

The last time he was escorted down the bifrost, it was after he returned to Asgard with Thor after the New York invasion. He had been in chains, unable to use magic and Thor walked beside him with a grim expression that radiated with suppressed anger at Loki.

But now, Thor looked a bit more energetic and happy. Happy to have Loki back home with him. Happy that Loki called him brother. Loki knew that Thor was uneasy with Loki’s sudden change in behavior but he was too happy to care.

The brother he knew was back, after all.

Stark whistled, admiring the golden beauty of Asgard. The palace shone beautifully with the reflection of the sun. The skies were clear blue like it was something from a painting.

Two ravens flew by and Loki narrowed his eyes at them.

Huginn and Muninn.

Thor noticed Loki eyeing the birds and wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulders.

"Do not worry, brother. Father would take into account your change of heart," Thor said before releasing his shoulders. Loki didn't say anything and instead kept a neutral expression.

"Is that real gold?" Stark asked, wide eyed as he took in the palace.

"Yes, my friend!" Thor boasted proudly, a big smile on his face. Thor continued to tell Stark about Asgard'shistory and their many victories.

As they passed the city and markets, many Asgardians stopped to look curiously at them.

Loki felt weird seeing them. He remembered that most of them most likely didn't make it to the Statesman, having died by Hela's hands and some of them didn't even manage to escape the Statesman and was slaughtered by Thanos.

But now they're alive, eyeing him. The faces of many innocent people that died cruel deaths. It's alright though, he has a chance to save them from those needless deaths, he tried to assure himself.

Before he even realized, they had arrived in the palace.

* * *

"Something's not right," Bruce muttered, causing Steve to look up from the newspaper article he was reading from a Starkpad Tony had lent to him.

"What is it?" Steve asked, curious as he turned the device off to give his full attention to Bruce.

"I haven't mentioned it to you before but when I checked up on Loki, I noticed that there were many... scars on him," he began. Steve frowned, forehead creasing.

"What kind of scars?" He asked, voice low.

"Many. Flogging scars, stabbing scars and even some burn marks," he said and Steve slowly shook his head. "I didn't want to talk about it before because I don't want to make it look like I'm siding with the criminal but it must be said."

"It's okay, Doctor Banner. You can always talk to me," Steve encouraged and Bruce gave a small, grateful smile.

"I have a theory. Have you noticed anything weird about the scepter?" Bruce asked and Steve's eyes darted towards the scepter resting at the corner of the lab.

"Other than it mind controls people?" Steve asked, turning to Bruce. "Nothing."

"Have you noticed that whenever we get near the scepter, we always seem to argue like we did on the helicarrier before," Bruce said. Steve gave another look at the scepter.

"But we're not arguing right now," he said and Bruce nodded.

"Yeah. I thought that maybe the scepter manipulates people, especially when they're angry. Whenever it does, it makes a small humming sound."

"I never noticed that," Steve said, walking towards the scepter until he's a few feet away from it before turning back.

"I figured that the scepter is powerful enough to actually manipulate people who are in close vicinity of it. I wonder, what would happen to the mind of the person actually using it?" He wondered and Steve raised an eyebrow, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Are you suggesting that Loki could have been affected by the scepter?"

Bruce slowly nodded. "Yes, but that's as far as it goes. I also think that maybe the scars have something to do with it. We won't know until there is some way to confirm it."

Bruce continued collecting notes and studying the scepter with Steve watching before Steve suggested that they should have dinner.

"Stark isn't here yet and it's getting late. Maybe we should have dinner first," he said and the black haired man agreed.

"You can just order the food from Jarvis," Bruce said and Steve gave a confused look.

"Jarvis?"

"You know, Tony's butler AI," Bruce said and it took Steve a second or two before he made an 'oh' sound. He will never get used to Jarvis.

"Jarvis, can we order some food?" He asked, looking to the ceiling as if he's talking to someone but he got no answer.

"Jarvis?" He called again but the AI didn't respond. "That's weird," he muttered. He had an uneasy feeling in his chest and picked up his shield that rested against a table near him.

All of a sudden, the lab door slowly opened to reveal the dark hallway outside.

"Tony, you're back?" Bruce asked, looking from his notes and walking towards the door of the lab but was stopped by the captain's hand on his chest. Suddenly, something was thrown in that emitted smoke.

A smoke bomb.

"Banner, run!" he pushed the doctor, who gasped in surprise at the force and fell behind a nearby steel table. Smoke filled up the room and Steve kicked the table, which fell onto its side and acted as a shield for Bruce.

"Captain, put down the shield!" He heard Rumlow's voice called as agents swarmed into the room, assault rifles pointing at them.

"You are compromised by the enemy! Just turn yourself in and we would not be forced to hurt you and Doctor Banner!" Rumlow called again and Steve could see his form approaching nearer through the smoke.

"I don't think so, Agent," he said and looked at Bruce. The man's face was slightly green and Steve could hear his breathing getting louder and more nervous.

He assessed the situation before deciding that he needed to get Bruce to safety and prevent him from hulking out.

At the corner of his eye, he noticed a small movement in the silhouette behind the smoke. He threw his shield at the silhouette of one of the agents, which hit his chest, causing him to be knocked back. The other agents got distracted, including Rumlow, which gave Steve an opening for him to attack.

He ran towards Rumlow and before the man could even process what happened, he punched him in the face. Rumlow stumbled back and Steve took this opportunity to grab his rifle and throw it across the room.

"Get him!" Rumlow shouted.

They opened fire at him. Steve managed to summon his shield back before ducking behind a table. He felt a pain on his shoulder and looked at it. A bullet had scraped his shoulder and he was bleeding.

Steve turned to Bruce. "I need you to calm down, Bruce!" he yelled at the doctor, who had his head in his hands.

"I'm trying!" He yelled back, voice deeper like he was in the middle of turning into a hulk.

Steve exchanged blows with the other agents, knocking them out one by one until it was only Rumlow left.

"We can make this easy for you, captain. You just need to turn yourself in and no harm will be done," the agent said, slowly approaching him as he punched the last remaining agent into unconsciousness.

He turned to Rumlow and then to his shoulder, which was bleeding. "I think it's a little too late for that."

He and Rumlow exchanged blows before sending a kick to the man's crotch area. Rumlow bent down and howled in pain. Steve punched his head, knocking him out for good.

He immediately rushed to Bruce, who fortunately, didn't hulk out.

"Are you hurt?" He asked and Bruce shook his head.

"We have to get out of here, now!"

He and Bruce ran out of the lab and down the hallway. Bruce struggled to catch up with him.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," Bruce said, gulping in breaths of air.

Suddenly, a small sound was heard and Bruce went stiff. Steve looked at him, worry in his eyes. Banner slowly turned, revealing a tranquilizer dart stuck to his back. He fell to the ground before going unconscious fast.

Steve turned to look at the attacker and saw that it was none other than Clint Barton, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Clint," he tried to call out but the archer shook his head with a grimace.

"Don't call me that," he growled and fired another shot which caught Steve off guard, hitting his arm. He immediately pulled the dart out but it was too late. His legs turned weak and he fell on his back.

"You fraternized with enemy," Clint said, approaching Steve. His footsteps echoed throughout the hallway as Steve's vision was clouded with dark spots.

"I trusted you." For a second, he could see Clint wear a betrayed expression on his face before everything turned dark.

* * *

Their footsteps echoed as they walked down the throne room and Loki was reminded of when he was brought to justice in front of Odin for invading Midgard, wearing chains with runes to prevent him from escaping.

But now, he is walking down the same hallway in the same throne room, except Thor and Stark are with him and his brother would do anything in his power to prevent Loki from being hurt in any way.

He kept his eye trained at Odin's form sitting on the throne and Odin returned the favor, not taking his eyes off of Loki.

This was not the Odin that claimed he loved Loki at the cliff overlooking the sea on Earth. This Odin wanted to see Loki rot in chains in the prison of Asgard.

"Loki," a soft voice called. A voice so familiar, a voice he didn't realize he longed to hear. He stopped dead in his tracks, which caused Thor to frown in confusion.

He turned and saw his mother standing a bit further beside the throne. She looked exactly the same as the day he was brought to Asgard before Odin. Before Loki knew it, his feet were running towards her.

The many einherjar stationed by the walls of the throne room was alerted and quickly brought up their spears.

"Loki!" Thor shouted but he didn't care.

He hugged her, burying his face into her golden hair. She gasped in surprise for a moment before her hands quickly came up and wrapped around him.

"Oh, Loki," Frigga muttered before pulling away to cup Loki's cheeks. "I miss you," she said with a soft smile and he returned it with a smile of his own. Then, her smile faltered, replaced by worry in her eyes.

Thor seemed to notice this. "Mother?" he asked but then he was cut off by Odin.

"Enough! Bring the prisoner forward," Odin exclaimed, standing up from his golden throne. Frigga broke his gaze from Loki to glare at Odin. Loki gave an annoyed frown towards the old man for ruining the moment with his mother.

He reluctantly stepped forward towards the throne, all spears still trained at him. "I need to speak to you."

"He harbours no harmful intentions," Thor said, stepping forward. Odin didn't say anything and instead descended the steps of the throne with Gungnir in hand. He stopped in front of Loki, within arms distant.

His eyes took in Loki up and down before going to Stark, who was looking around the room curiously and did not realise Odin was looking at him.

"Anthony Edward Stark, the Man of Iron," Odin addressed, which cause the Stark to jump in surprise before composing himself.

"Um, me?" He pointed to himself after clearing his throat.

"You wish to know the truth?" Odin asked and Frigga stepped forward towards her husband.

"Odin, I thought we agreed to not do this," she scolded, putting her hands on his arm as if to hold him back, which caused Loki to frown.

"The truth?" Stark questioned. The truth about what? Could it be the truth about Loki?

"Yes? I guess?" He answered with uncertainty. “Wait, what truth are we talking here?” He asked, eyes darting to Loki.

"Mother?" He asked, looking between Odin and Frigga. He unconsciously stepped back and stopped when he accidentally knocked into Thor's broad frame.

"Alright then," Odin said towards Stark before looking towards the einherjar.

"Guards!" He yelled and and a few einherjar stepped forward and grabbed Loki, who struggled against their grip.

"What are you doing?!" He shrieked just as one of the guards kicked the back of his knees, causing him to kneel down on the hard, cold floor. His knees hit the floor with a painful thud.

"Woah, what's going on?" Stark shouted in surprise as a guard grabbed his arm and dragged him near Loki. “Hey, hands off,” he said. He pulled his armoured arm roughly from the guard but didn’t move away.

"Father, what is this? I told you that Loki means no harm!" Thor yelled at his father grabbing his shoulder in a disrespectful manner which Odin shrugged off.

"With Loki, you can never be sure. Who knows what he's planning in that head of his. This is the only way to know," he growled. Frigga was fuming beside him.

"This isn't right! We just got him back!" She screamed at him, trying to run towards Loki but another guard held her arm, not letting her go.

"Let me go!" Loki yelled and sent out a blast of magic, knocking back the guards holding him. However, as soon as he got back on his feet, Odin slammed Gungnir on the ground and tendrils of golden magic wrapped around him, pulling him down and restricting his movement. He groaned, trying to escape the bonds but it was too strong.

"I will not allow you to harm him!" Thor said and stood in front of Loki protectively but Odin sent him across the room with a wave of Gungnir, knocking the Thunderer into one of the pillars.

Odin approached Loki and he saw a brief apologetic look in the king's eyes. "I'm sorry, my son, but I have to do this," he said softly and gently rest a palm on Loki's forehead. Loki's eyes widened, knowing what is going to happen.

"Don't you dare," Loki growled at him threateningly but Odin was unaffected. He closed his eyes and golden magic began enveloping his hand.

"My head feels funny," he heard Stark say.

This cannot be happening.

Loki closed his eyes and tried to resist Odin's magic against his mind. The wards he put on his mind were slowly weakening due to Odin trying to invade it.

"Do not resist, Loki. It will only hurt you," Odin said, voice strained and hand shaking on Loki's forehead.

He began screaming in pain as Odin rammed his way through his mind wards bit by bit.

"Odin stop!" Frigga shouted, along with shouts of protest from Thor but it was too late. It has already begun.

And Odin broke through.

* * *

_He was falling and falling and falling. He can't breathe, there's no air. It's dark, so dark. Why did he let go?_

_Next thing he knew, he was on a barren rock, alone and cold. Everything was so dark and void of life._

_Someone found him._

_“I am Thanos,” the large creature introduced himself with a grin that sent shivers down his spine._

_“You will get the tesseract from Earth,” a hooded creature named The Other hissed at him and he cringed at the awful sound of his voice._

_“And what if I don’t?” Loki challenged and The Other looked at him for a long moment before turning to the other two chitauri in the cell with him._

“ _Flog him!”_

_Everything was a blur afterwards. He was in that cell for what felt like an eternity. At every waking moment, he hears Thanos’s voice in his head, speaking to him._

_‘You are worthless!’_

_‘They never loved you, no one did.’_

_‘Your brother threw you into the abyss!’_

_In the end, they brought him out of the cell and forced the sceptre into his hand and afterwards he felt nothing but hatred. Hatred for his father who had never loved him as much as he did Thor. Hatred for his mother who lied to his face all his life with a smile on her face. Hatred for his brother who always treated him as lesser than him and threw him into the abyss._

_Then, he was sent to Midgard._

_“I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose,” he said with a sadistic and empty smile._

_“So you take the world I love as recompense for you imagined slights?” Thor yelled at him after throwing him onto the cliff._

_Only after the hulk roughed him up did the connection to the sceptre loosened enough for him to realise what he’s done. How the sceptre amplified his hatred enough for him to destroy another world._

_Thor brought him to Asgard and he was brought before Odin._

_“Your birthright,” Odin shouted. “Was to die! Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here to hate me.”_

_“Frigga is the only reason you are still alive and you will never see her again.”_

_He felt hurt by Odin’s statement. “And what of Thor? You make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?”_

_He was in prison when a guard brought him news of Frigga’s death. At that moment, he truly lost everyone. Not even Thor came to see him. And Odin has cast him to the prisons below Asgard. Thor wasn’t even the one to give the news but worse of all, they wouldn’t even let him to her funeral._

_His own mother._

_Then, he and Thor were on Svartalheim. Everything went by so fast and the Kurse Algrim, with a sword embedded into his chest, pulled Loki towards him, stabbing Loki._

_Kurse died due to his black hole grenade but it was too late. Loki was injured. Thor mourned but left Loki on the desert of Svartalheim._

_Loki’s seidr managed to mend the wound and he survived. He went back to Asgard, disguised as one of the einherjars._

_He found Odin on the throne. Part of him wanted to kill Odin right then and there but no matter how much he hates Odin, he just couldn’t will himself to kill the old man that had taken him in._

_“Please don’t, my son,” Odin managed to utter before Loki casted him out using the spear Gungnir that he took from Odin and locked his memories away using magic._

_As he sat on Odin’s throne, he managed see into all the universe and nine realms. He monitored all of the infinity stones, making suer no one gets them to Thanos. He saw Nebula and Gamora track down the soul stone at Vormir, a place no one else has visited before. He caught glimpses of the Avengers’ life on Midgard, defeating Ultron and and the Avengers breaking up._

_When Thor came back to Asgard a few years later, he saw immediately through Loki’s illusion. They both searched for Odin and found him overlooking the sea on a cliff in Norway._

_For a moment, all of Loki’s hatred towards Odin was gone, replaced by a hidden sadness. During Odin’s last moments, he finally praised Loki for his magic after years of dismissing it. He claimed that he still love Loki, and he died peacefully._

_Then, Hela was released._

_He remembered his time on Sakaar, meeting the Grandmaster and Valkyrie. He remembered being proud of Thor for releasing his full potential after mjolnir was destroyed. In the end, they had to destroy Asgard._

_They only managed to save a few thousand Asgardians and brought them aboard the Statesman. Thor was talking about going to Earth with all the Asgardian refugees and bringing Loki with him._

_Then, Thanos showed up._

_Loki planned to send Thor to Midgard and tell him to warn the humans of the threat, considering that there were three infinity stones on the Earth at the moment._

_But the plan didn’t work out._

_Thanos killed Thor, right in front of him. The image of Thor’s body going limp played in his mind like a broken video tape._

_Then, there was a voice._

_“Do you want to save him?”_

_He immediately said ‘yes’._

_The next time he opened his eyes, he was on top of Stark tower with Thor._

* * *

Loki opened his green eyes just at the same time he heard Stark throwing up the contents of his stomach on the floor of the thrown room, making one of the guards gasp in surprise.

His eyes met Odin’s face, who had a terrified look on his face. His face paled as his eyes slowly met Loki’s, who was burning with pure anger. There was only silence as everyone in the room looked at them. Loki didn’t say anything and instead ran away out the doos of the throne room.

Frigga turned to Odin, livid. “What have you done?” She screamed at him, roughly pulling her arm out of the guard’s grasp. Odin just looked at his wife with a scarred look on his face.

”What did you do, Father?” Thor yelled, trying to help Stark on his feet.

She turned and briskly walked away.

“Bring him to the healing room,”Frigga informed the guard near Stark, motioning to the man who looked miserable with a trail of vomit on his chin.

She ran out of the throne room to chase after Loki, and nobody stopped her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! There we go. I thought about making the chapter longer but I’ll just settle with this. Sorry for the grammatical errors. Kudos and reviews are very very appreciated. Have a good day!


	6. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Frigga finally get to have a moment together. Odin and Loki finally have a long overdue talk when an incident happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains graphic depiction of violence. Read at your own risk.
> 
> Hi! I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I was visiting my grandma at her village and I was pretty busy helping her with stuff. Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter! It really gives me inspiration to write more. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Loki didn't exactly know where he was going but his feet brought him to his bedroom. Some of the servants he passed by gave suspicious looks, wondering where he was going to in such a rush. As soon as he reached the room, he turned around and locked it.

He quickly uttered a spell under his breath and mended the wards on his mind that Odin broke through. He put the mind wards right after the hulk had smashed him a few years ago. He broke free from the mind gem spell long enough to actually put a spell on his mind so that no one could ever mess with his mind again.

For Odin to brute force his way through his wards was dangerous.

After fixing his mind ward, he slowly looked up and around his room. He hadn't been in this room for a long time. His bed was clean as if it was untouched. The potions and spell books he had on the table before his fall from the bifrost was exactly the way it was. He walked towards his bookshelves which were lined with spellbooks and literature works.

After taking Odin's position, he never really thought about entering him old room.

He ran his fingers through the book spines. There wasn't even a speck of dust on the shelves.

"I personally cleaned it myself," he heard someone's voice said and he turned around to find his mother standing by the bed with a warm smile.

"Mother," he greeted and went to hug her again. He honestly couldn't get enough of her hugs.

"You are not the Loki of this time, are you?" Frigga asked after pulling away. Loki looked at her with wide eyes.

"How do you know?"

"I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than just eyes," she said with a warm smile. Loki gave a short, lighthearted laugh before his mother motioned for him to sit on the bed. He did, without question and she sat beside him.

“I don’t want to violate your mind like your father did.” Loki decided not to comment on the word ‘father’. “But I can see that something is troubling you,” she said, scanning Loki’s face. “You can tell me, if you do not mind, of course.”

Loki took quite a while to think. He hesitated but ended up staying silent. He shook his head and stood up, walking towards his desk that he always used for studying. He picked up one of the vials he kept, eyeing it before putting it back down. “This room is untouched,” he said and Frigga smiled.

Frigga sensed the change in topic but decided not to push Loki. “Ever since your fall, I prayed to the Norns everyday that you would come back to us. I searched every book in the library of a way to bring you back,” she said, voice slightly shaky as she ended the sentence.

Loki didn’t respond and Frigga continued. “I visited every sorcerer I could find in the nine realms. No one could see you or even find you.” She paused, taking in a deep breath. “After your fall, Odin gave up. No one has ever survived the void,” Frigga sniffled and Loki could see her glassy eyes, making his heart hurt.

“He wanted to clear your room out. He couldn’t bear to see your room so empty,” she said and Loki gave a hidden scoff. “Loki, he loves you. Almost every night, he would visit your chambers. He may not shed tears but his sadness could be felt throughout all of Asgard.”

Loki was taken aback by her words, shocked as he slowly sat on his wooden desk chair. He didn’t know how to process Odin feeling sad for him. It was something he never expected entirely. He turned to his mother and she continued.

“I wouldn’t let him clear your room. I made sure your room is dusted everyday. I would never let the servants touch any of the things on your desk.”

Loki felt his eyes burn as tears formed. It wasn’t his intention to cry but hearing his mothers grief was almost too much to bear. “Why?” He asked as he walked closer to where she was sitting. Why would she go through the trouble of cleaning his room? Making sure all of his things are untouched?

“Because I know you will come back to me,” she sobbed quietly, her words were almost a whisper. Hearing her sob made him sob. It’s been so long since he had been close with his mother. Close with someone who had stood by him ever since he was nothing but a baby.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out as the tears started to fall down his cheeks. He felt sorry for putting the only person who loved him unconditionally through so much pain of loss.

She shook her head, extending her hand into a hug. She moved into his arms and once again he felt like he was a child, finding comfort in his mother’s hugs. “You have nothing to be sorry for, my child,” she said, pressing a kiss into his hair. “We have failed you,” she said with a sniffle. “I have failed you.”

Loki quickly shook his head in denial. “No, never. You never failed me.”

They both sat like that in Loki’s chambers, exchanging small talk. Many hours passed although it was still daylight. For the first time in a while, Loki felt like he was at ease. For a few hours, it felt like Loki was having fun talking to his mother.

Then, Odin showed up. 

* * *

There was a loud knock on the door which startled Loki but he didn't let it show. He and Frigga both looked at the locked door, expecting to hear who it was.

"Loki, open this door," Odin's voice boomed. Again with Odin ruining the moment between him and his mother.

Loki looked at Frigga, who gave Loki a smile. It was as if she could hear Loki contemplating whether to open the door or ignore Odin.

"It's alright, Loki. I will make sure he will not harm you," she said with an assuring smile.

"I won't let my guard down this time," he replied before walking over to the door and opening it. He was met with Odin's bearded face. He was alone and no guards accompanied him, which honestly surprised him.

"What is it?" He asked in an annoyed tone. Odin's fingers curled tightly around Gungnir.

"I believe we are long overdue for a conversation," he said, catching a glimpse of Frigga at the back. Loki looked back at his mother, who gave an encouraging smile in return before turning back to Odin.

"Alright," he said, stepping aside to let Odin pass through. Frigga stood up and walked out, giving Odin a stern glare before closing the door.

As soon as the door closed, the tension in the room was thick. Loki gave a sigh as he walked over to the balcony of his room. He looked down and saw the citizens of Asgard going about their day, completely oblivious to his situation.

He saw a group of little boys and girls play a ball game equivalent to soccer. One of the children fell and started to cry, causing one of the adults to run over with panic. The woman collected the child in her arms and walked inside her house. The scene reminded him of when he and Thor used to play with Sif and the Warriors Three would play on the palace grounds.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Odin's voice broke his thoughts but he didn't turn to look at the man, who stood far behind him. He turned back to look at the view, noticing the sun shining over the beautiful buildings.

"I apologise for infiltrating your mind," Odin blurted out after a long silence filled with awkwardness. Loki turned to give a glare before turning back but this time he wasn't paying attention to the scenery.

"You had no right," Loki said. Guilt was radiating off of Odin in waves.

"I had to be sure that you had no sinister intentions. I needed to ensure the safety of Asgard," the old man said, his long garb billowing as the wind blew into the room through the window.

"Of course. You are the king. You needed to make sure Asgard is safe, even if it means hurting the person you called your son."

Odin winced at Loki's harsh statement. "It's not what I mean-"

"You saw into my mind. You saw my memories. Everything." Loki backed away from the window to face Odin. "During the last few moments, you addressed me as your son. Why the inconsistencies? One minute you treat me as your prisoner but then you treat me as a son. Why?"

Odin sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “I am merely thinking as a king.”

“Yes, that is the crux of the problem, isn’t it?” Loki asked, giving a small smile of mockery.

“What?”

“You are merely thinking as a king.” Loki repeated Odin’s words. “Throughout most of my life, you were there as a king, not a father.”

Odin was stumped. He stood still with his mouth agape as Loki let out all the words he had kept hidden away in his heart. Loki knew his words would make the old man react.

“I needed a father, not a king.”

Odin let out a choked gasp. His grip on Gungnir faltered and it fell to the floor with a loud clang. Loki knew he had struck a soft spot and didn’t flinch when the man approached him.

“I am sorry, my son. I have failed you.”

Loki shook his head. “It’s no use. You cannot give me the good childhood that was robbed from me.”

“Then the least I can do is aid you. What is it that you need?”

“I only need one thing. I only need your word.”

“Then I will hear what you have to say.”

“I am sure you have already seen what happened when you were bulldozing through my head like a herd of bilgesnipes. I only need one thing. I only want your word that you keep Thor out of this. I’m sure you know why,” Loki said. Odin sighed tiredly before pulling a chair from Loki’s desk and sitting on it.

“That, I cannot promise.” Odin said and Loki’s face twisted in anger.

“Why? You would lead your own golden child to his death? You saw what happened. I expected you to agree to it in a heartbeat.”

“You know how your brother is. He will probably do anything in his power to ensure that you are safe, even if it means going against me,” Odin replied, leaning back into the chair.

Loki shook his head rapidly. “No, I will not let that happen. Don’t ever let the circumstances of his ‘death’ reach into his ears. This might be the only way to prevent him from actually dying.”

“Loki, you do not give Thor enough credit. He may act foolish most of the time but he is not stupid. He will figure it out.”

“Then don’t ever mention it. Just stay quiet until I work out my plan. That is, if I succeed,” Loki said as he returned to the balcony.

“He will be angry, knowing you’re keeping this from him,” Odin said and Loki’s head whipped around, eyebrows raised up high.

“Really? You are lecturing me about keeping secrets?” Loki asked sarcastically with a loud laugh. “What about you? When will you tell him about Hela? Or your tyranny? About where the gold from Asgard came from? Or are you waiting until you are about to pass, then you will give the big news since you always have a thing for bad timing?” He recalled his conversation with Odin in the vault before he went into the Odinsleep and him passing away after telling about Hela.

“I have my reasons,” Odin stated sternly.

“I have mine too.”

“Then you are no different from me,” Odin replied back, and Loki scoffed, taken aback by being compared to Odin himself.

“I’m trying to avoid him from being killed by the mad titan. You saw how he ‘died’. Saw how he rejected my attempt to safe him. Doesn’t matter how wise he is. He always feels like he needs to be the one saving someone else. It would be his downfall,” condemned Loki as he tugged a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

Odin gave a resigned sigh and a nod. “You are right, unfortunately. However, letting you go alone is…” he trailed off before his expression hardened. “What if you get yourself killed? I cannot lose my son just when I have gotten him back.”

“I won’t. Trust me,” Loki implored but Odin’s expression of disapproval remained the same. “Or are you saying that you do not trust me?”

That seemed to catch Odin off guard. “Of course I trust you. I just worry. You almost got yourself killed. I don’t even know how or who sent you back here but you should consider yourself lucky.”

Loki froze at the mention of the ‘force’ that sent him back. He had been so tired and busy that he didn’t even thought to remember about the incident that sent him back.

“The creature that sent me, do you have any idea of who it could be?” Loki asked Odin, whose eyebrows furrowed.

“I don’t. But for a creature to send you this far back in time has to have a large amount of power within it. That much amount of power would tear a person apart,” Odin explained and Loki nodded along.

“There has to be a catch to this. Why would this being help me? I do not even know it,” Loki questioned as he crossed his arms on his chest, lifting an arm up to prop his chin on it.

“There has to be a logical explanation to it. It could be in Asgard’s libraries. However, we can dwell on it later. For now, what is your plan? How do you plan to defeat Thanos? From what I saw, he has hundreds of motherships filled with his army. You cannot hope to defeat him alone.”

Loki stood still for a moment before summoning the space stone in his hand. He looked at it, the bright glow of the stone threatened to pull him in. He gave the stone one last glance before looking back to Odin.

“You have the space stone,” Odin stated, his one eye looking at it. Loki curled his fingers around the stone defensively.

“What are you going to do? Take it away from me?” Loki provoked but Odin shook his head.

“The artifact is dangerous and so far, it has only been used for bad intentions but,” Odin paused, looking at the stone. “I trust you, my son.”

Loki fist the stone in his hand, his hands falling to his sides. “I have a plan. It is a pretty simple plan, actually.”

Odin waited to listen to the plan. “I plan to collect the stones and destroy it.”

Odin’s eyes widened before coming forward and gripping Loki’s wrist. Loki tried to pull his hand away but Odin held it with great force. “How are you going to destroy it? You would die if you do something as foolish as that.”

Loki jerked his hand away with a scowl on his face. “Or would you rather have half the universe dead?”

“There has to be another way,” Odin insisted but Loki shook his head.

“How? You can’t even see him. He’s too far away even for you or Heimdall to see. We don’t know where he is. Even if we kill his minions, he’ll just find another one to retrieve the infinity stones for him. With all the infinity stones, we can either kill him or destroy the stones.”

Odin gave Loki a long look filled with anger and worry. He knew that what Loki said was right. For now, it’s quite impossible to kill Thanos. They don’t know his whereabouts but he most definitely exists.

Odin gave a defeated sigh. “What do you need? You already know the whereabouts of the stones.”

“I just need a device to extract the reality stone and your word that Thor will not know about this.”

Odin scratched the back of his head in frustration. “Alright. Come with me,” he said and went to pick up Gungnir.

Loki nodded. “Thank you,” he said politely.

Odin began to walk out of the room but he noticed Loki didn’t follow him. He turned around and saw Loki standing still at the frame of the balcony, his face twisted in confusion.

“Loki? What are you doing?”

“My head hurts,” Loki choked out as he clutched his head, tugging at his hair. He fell to the floor on his side, his hand still had the space stone as he pulled his hairs.

“What’s wrong? Is it a headache?” Odin asked urgently as he knelt by Loki’s side, hand resting gently on Loki’s shoulder.

“I don’t think so,” Loki grunted as he tried to get up.

 **_‘Going against the master’s orders, I see?’_** a familiar voice whispered in his head, causing his head to jerk back from instinct.

“Get out of my head,” he gritted through his teeth at the voice, causing Odin to frown in confusion.

“Who are you talking to, Loki?”

Suddenly, Loki stopped writhing in pain and instead looked up at Odin with a smile that was unlike any Odin had ever seen from Loki. This is most definitely not Loki.

“What did you do to my son?”

‘Loki’ laughed as he got up with ease, his movements were unfamiliar and slow. “You aren’t his father. The master made sure to remind him of that every day while the little jotunn runt was with us.”

Odin tried to keep himself compose but every cell in his body screamed hostility towards the situation. “I am assuming that you are one of Thanos’s minions.”

“I should thank you, Allfather. You barging into his brain has created a hole in the ward, an opening for me to enter. I know everything there is to know now.”

“If so, then you should get out of here before I force you to,” Odin threatened but it was met with another mocking laugh.

“But that would be too easy now, right?” The ‘not Loki’ asked as he held up the space stone. Odin tried not to be too alarmed. “It would be better to use this body. The power, seidr as you call it, can harness the stone’s power. He would prove useful to Master Thanos.”

Odin tried to step forward, only for the creature to summon one of Loki’s daggers and put the blade to Loki’s neck. “One wrong move and I tear his throat apart.”

Odin didn’t move. He eyed Loki’s room at the corner of his eye that he could use as a way to distract the creature. “Alright, I won’t move.”

“Good, you would do well to-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence when one of Loki’s desk chair flew towards the hand that held the blade, making him drop it as he clutched his hand in pain.

“I am sorry, Loki,” he muttered, more to himself as he ran over and grabbed ‘Loki’s’ head, hands glowing with magic. The last thing he heard was the scream that came out of his son’s mouth before he went in Loki's mind.

* * *

Loki looked around but all he could see are just barren lands and rocks everywhere, very much like the Sanctuary. He let out a nervous breath, looking around to see if there was anyone with him.

"Planning to collect the stones for yourself, princeling? Quite selfish of you to keep all of it for yourself," a voice said behind him and he turned around to see someone walk out from behind one of the giant rocks.

The Other.

"What are you doing here?" Loki asked as his body froze, trying to fight against every inch of his body that was trying to run away from the hooded creature.

"Thanks to your so called father, he gave an opening on your mind ward that allowed me to enter," he said with an eerie grin.

Loki silently cursed Odin under his breath. "You have all the knowledge about the stones. The whereabouts of it, how to yield it. However, you plan on collecting it for yourself."

He stayed silent and The Other continued. "Come back to the Master and he will promise you power if you help him with his plan to collect all the stones," he persuaded as he walked closer to Loki.

"He will have the stones and you will have the power to prove to your so called father that you can be a king," he hissed at Loki. His face was mere inches from Loki.

Loki looked at him before spitting on The Other's face. He didn't react at first, but then as fast as lightning, he pushed Loki to a wall before grabbing his throat, choking him.

"Is that so? Well then, I guess I have no choice. I will murder everyone you care about. I will murder your brother, I will murder your father and last but not least, I will hurt every single inch of your mother's body and make her scream before I dump her broken body before your feet."

In an instant, Loki saw red. He summon a dagger that caught the creature off guard and stabbed his arm. He let go of Loki, stumbling back as pulled the dagger out of his arm.

"Betrayer!" The Other shouted as he dodged Loki's attempts to hit him with a staff he summoned.

"You will not touch my family!" Loki shouted as he parried an attack by The Other.

"Family? You never had one to begin with!" The Other laughed mockingly as he punched Loki's stomach, causing him to be blown back by the force of it.

He stood back to regain his breath before going at it again. Their battle continued for a while before someone interfered.

"Stop!" he heard Odin's voice shout. They both turned to see Odin standing a bit farther than them, holding Gungnir in his hand.

"Allfather," The Other hissed. "I guess it wasn't enough to just deal with you outside this body but I have to deal with you inside as well."

"So be it," Odin challenged.

He charged forward with Gungnir and struck The Other. His blow enough wasn't alone. He and Loki worked together bringing The Other down. He was stronger than he looked, considering he was fighting without any weapons at all.

At last, Loki struck the sharpened end of his staff into The Other's chest. The Other let out a sick cry, gurgling in his own blood as Odin plunged Gungnir into his chest, right next to where Loki's staff had struck.

The Other knelt down, weakened. Slowly, he looked up to look at Loki in the eye, who eyed him with disgust and contemptment.

"Look who's laughing now," Loki said as he gripped The Other's jaw in his hand, forcing him to look at Loki in the eye. "This time, I'll deliver your broken body to Thanos. You will not hurt my family. You will not even _touch_ them."

The Other looked at Loki, his eyes unfocused from the pain before giving a laugh. "Did you really think that I would come here just to 'hurt your family'?" He asked before giving another eerie laugh.

Loki's eyes darted to Odin, who had a grave look of concern over his face. Loki turned back to The Other and dug his staff deeper into his chest, causing the creature to grunt in pain.

"What are you talking about?" He asked but The Other did not answer. "Stop playing games!"

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. All it takes is one distraction and everything falls apart," The Other smirked before falling limp. His chest sit still, Loki noted.

The Other is dead.

"No," he heard Odin mutter and turned to look at the old man. He had a grave look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Loki asked but Odin didn't get to answer before the whole place started falling apart. He was about to ask what was going on when he felt a pulling sensation.

He shouted in surprise as he felt himself pulled away from the place that looked like the Sanctuary. The place looked smaller and smaller as he was pulled away.

He let out nervous breaths, trying to find something to hold on to as he felt pulled away. There was nothing to hold on to as it was only darkness that surrounds him.

He closed his eyes to resign to the pull.

"Loki!" He heard Odin's voice shout and his eyes shot open.

It was bright and the first thing he saw was himself holding the space stone in his opened hand. The space stone shone brightly as a portal shot open in the sky, outline by the blue hues of the space stone.

Hundreds of Chitauri flying contraptions flew in, each with a chitauri on it. Last but not least, a chitauri mothership flew through, probably carrying thousands and thousands of chitauri inside.

"Ah!" He shouted as he tried to resist the hold of the space stone. He tried to let go of the space stone but he couldn't. It was as if his hands were glued to it.

Odin's Gungnir came into the picture and Odin shot a beam of power at the stone, causing it to fly out of Loki's hand and land on the floor. The portal on the sky closed.

"What happened?" Loki shouted as Odin went over to Loki and put a hand on his head. Loki was too panicked to question what he was doing and Odin muttered an enchantment under his breath that expelled any foreign beings from Loki's head and to seal the mind safely.

"It's The Other!" Odin shouted as he looked over the balcony to see his citizens running in fear from the chitauri. "He distracted us long enough to use your body and power to open a portal for his fleet to come through."

He pulled Loki up to his feet, who was still in a daze over what had happened. "No time to argue. We have to deal with the fleet!"

All of a sudden, the door to Loki's room burst open, revealing a nervous Tyr. "Your highness, Asgard is under attack!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the chapter was good! Sorry for the grammar mistakes. I hope this chapter made sense and came off the way I want it to be. Please feel free to leave kudos and reviews! It really means a lot to me <3


	7. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgard is under attack by the chitauri and Loki has to move quickly to get the infinity stones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I have been gone for a damn long while. My life is pretty much a wild ride right now. I just got out of a very exhausting and frustrating relationship. It was honestly one of the reasons I stopped updating for a while. I would just like to say please, please, please don't hesitate to stand up for yourself if you think your relationship is turning sour. I hated myself for letting myself get hurt so much but I'm trying to heal.

Loki shakily got onto his feet, eyes glancing to Tyr at the door of his chambers. The space stone lay somewhere beside him near the edge of the balcony.

He lifted up his hand and tried to pull forth his seidr but found that it was drained completely. Small green sparks bounced off from his fingers before dying off.

"Let's go," Odin growled before roughly pulling Loki off his feet.

"I'm drained!" Loki shouted in a panic, which made Odin whip around in worry and confusion.

"What?"

"The space stone drained my seidr!" He shouted, staring at his fingers. He heard a shout and looked down to see a chitauri dragging a woman out of her house. "Please, I need to replenish my seidr!"

Odin looked at Loki with an uncertain look on his face. "I can use the Odinforce but it won't last very long."

"Just do it!"

Odin stood in front of Loki and thumped Gungnir on the floor. He was enveloped in a soft golden hue and Loki could see tendrils of magic dancing around Odin's skin.

Odin extended both of his arms forward and as he opened his eyes, it glowed golden with power. "Take my hand!"

Loki grasped both of Odin's hand in his and he felt a surge of power overtake him. The golden tendrils stretched out to wrap around Loki before slowly settling into his skin. He groaned loudly and gritted his teeth, unused to the large amount of power and energy in him.

Odin slowly lowered his hands, gasping with a tired look. "Go! I will catch up with you," he said. Loki nodded before running out of the room and into the palace hallways.

Loki could hear shouts coming not far from where he was. Just as he turned around the corner, one of the chitauri flying contraptions crashed through the palace wall right in front of him, leaving many debris around.

Loki suppressed a gasp of shock when it crashed through and almost hit him. If he had been a second faster he would have been crushed.

The chitauri boarding the contraption hopped off, very much still alive and pointed a gun at Loki. Loki dodged the bullet and quickly summoned three knives, throwing it at the chitauri and it died.

He continued down the castle until he passed by the healing room and heard a shout that sounded much like Stark's. He quickly broke through the door of the healing room to see Stark and Eir back to back, fending off the last chitauris.

"Prince Loki!" Eir called. "Where do these creatures come from? Who are they?" She shouted in a panic.

Loki was about to answer when Stark walked up to Loki, clad in his Iron Man suit. Stark grabbed the collar of his armor and slammed his back against a wall.

"What the fuck did you do?" Stark growled at him. "I knew you can't be trusted. We treat you nicely once and you turn your back and do this?"

"It's not me!" Loki gasped out when Stark slammed him against the wall again.

"Then explain why there are chitauri climbing around everywhere!"

Loki had enough and pushed him away, sending Stark tumbling back towards one of the tables in the room near the window. "You think I'm the only minion he has? He has hundreds, thousands!"

Stark didn't reply but kept that look of accusation on Loki.

"He has other puppets that can do the job better than I do so you either fight with me or you can sit here and be angry while people perish out there!"

Stark glared at him but didn't answer. He was about to say something when he noticed Loki's eyes darting behind him. He turned around to look back just as Loki shouted, "Duck!"

He ducked and turned back just in time to see a chitauri fire a projectile through the window of the healing room. Loki quickly summoned a shield that protected them from the blast, making the room shake. Stark quickly raised his arms and fired projectiles from his repulsors towards them, effectively killing them.

Stark turned around to look at Loki, flabbergasted with his mouth open. Loki heaved a huge sigh, checking to see if he still had enough of Odin's seidr to fight.

"That was close," he said.

Loki was about to retort back a 'you believe me now?' but was interrupted when a guard not far from the healing room shouted something.

"Protect the queen!"

Loki paused, flooded by memories of Frigga dying by the hands of Kurse Algrim and the feeling of uneasiness crept into his heart. He ran outside the healing room and saw a group of einherjar running towards Frigga and Odin's quarters.

"Stark, I need you to do me something," he said, turning to the shorter man.

"Excuse me?"

"I need you to protect my mother. Make sure no harm falls upon her."

"But what about the civilians? I can't just leave them!"

"I'll deal with them!" Loki shouted, making Stark stumble back in defensiveness. He drew a sharp breath to calm himself before continuing. "Look, just consider it a favor for saving you just now. Alright?"

Stark didn't say anything before reluctantly nodding.

"Just follow the group of einherjar. They will lead to my mother's chambers," Loki said before running off to the outside of the palace, his cape billowing behind him.

* * *

Thor grunted as he brought down mjolnir on one of the chitauri, killing him. The chiaturi ship had literally appeared out of nowhere. It had caught everybody off guard, even Tyr.

His mind wanted to deny that it was Loki who probably brought the chitauri here but it was hard. Despite Loki being his beloved brother, it was hard to trust him after he just tried to rule Earth.

His thoughts were cut off by a scream and he turned to see a chitauri dragging a little girl out of her house by her hair. He quickly landed beside the chitauri and punched him, taking the little girl out of his hands.

"You!" He shouted, pointing to one of the einherjars who were fighting. The guard quickly speared one of the chitauri before running over to Thor. "Bring her to a safe place along with every civilian you see. Evacuate them to the mountains."

The einherjar wasted no time in taking the little girl and hatching an evacuation plan while Thor continued to fight the chitauri, calling about his lightning.

"What are these creatures?" He heard Sif shout in the distance and saw her slice a chitauri in half with it.

"I have never seen them before either," Fandral said before slicing a chitauri's head off with his rapier. The gooey blood of the chitauri splattered onto him, making him gag in disgust.

"They are the chitauri, my friends!" Thor shouted as he went up to them to help them.

"How are we going to defeat them? It's going to take all day to fight a fleet as big as this!" Volstagg yelled over the sound of the battle, which was met with a silent agreement by Hogun.

"We need to destroy the mothership," Thor said, motioning to the big chitauri commander ship floating over Asgard's skies. "The guards are preparing the cannons but it is going to take a while."

All of a sudden, a few leviathans came out of the ship and he heard Fandral mutter, "Dear Norns."

Then, he saw Loki running out of the palace and he immediately grabbed Loki by the wrist, his hands gripping Loki's vambraces hard.

"Loki, what did you do?" He yelled as Loki tried to pull away from him.

"Why does everybody assume I am the one that caused this?" Loki shouted back at him, pulling his hand free away from Thor.

"You were the one who was commanding the chitauri on Midgard," Thor said, glaring at Loki.

"It is not my doing! If you want prove you can ask father about it," Loki said, adjusting back his vambraces. Thor tried to hide his surprise as Loki called Odin 'father' out of desperation.

They were interrupted when one of the leviathans casted a shadow over them as it flew by.

"You better be right about this because I trust you," Thor said before backing away and throwing mjolnir at one of the chitauri he saw. Loki followed suite afterwards, using his knife skills to kill as many chitauri as possible.

He fired blasts of magic, hoping to himself that the magic Odin supplied him wouldn't run out so fast. He could feel his body physically getting weaker and weaker as the fight went on, his body not adapt to Odin's magic and his seidr drained.

"Loki!" Fandral called after Loki blasted one of the chitauri in front of him. "What a pleasant surprise!"

Not long after, there was a loud boom was hard and they looked up to see cannons being fired towards the mothership and exploding. The mothership was big and it took almost all of Asgard's available cannon balls to take it down.

There was a loud explosion and the mothership started tilting slowly to its side. The flying mechanism of the ship failed and it dropped into the sea of Asgard with a loud crash that almost shook Asgard, creating large waves that flooded the houses nearby the sea.

With a piercing screech, each of the chitauri's started dying off like flies, falling to the ground lifelessly. All the einherjars looked around in shock as they all died off.

The leviathans too started falling from the sky and Loki looked just in time to see a leviathan about to fall on top of a man and his child.

"No!" Thor shouted but Loki was faster. He teleported as fast as he could towards the Asgardian civilians. The leviathan was about to crush them and Loki quickly summoned all of Odin's magic and extended his hand.

The leviathan stopped moving, hanging in the air and Loki grunted, almost as if feeling the weight of the leviathan against him. He could feel Odin's magic rapidly draining as he tried to lift the leviathan using the magic.

"Go!" Loki shouted towards the man and his child, who looked shocked by his presence. The man was almost frozen where he stood. "Go! I don't think I can hold it much longer!"

The man seemed to come back to his senses and he muttered a quick 'thank you' before carrying the child in his arms and running away where the leviathan cannot reached him.

Loki quickly let go, and the leviathan fell right in front of him, crushing a few of the small buildings in his way. He stumbled back, feeling unsteady. There was a short pause before he heard many of the einherjar started cheering, happy about their victory.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, approaching him with a bright grin as the hostility from their previous interaction vanished. "They were most impressed by your heroism!" He shouted, patting Loki hard on the back, causing him to become even more unsteady as his vision started to become blurry.

"Didn't know you had it in you to display any sort of heroism," Sif commented sarcastically. Loki could feel a hostile aura from Sif and Volstagg but didn't care about it.

"Loki, are you alright?" Thor asked worriedly when Loki stumbled back, grabbing onto the body of the leviathan for support.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Loki assured with a wave of his hand. "I just need a bit of rest."

"Let me help you," Thor said, moving over and grabbing Loki's hand, which he pulled away.

"I don't need your help. I'm not weak," Loki said with an annoyed tone and started walking away before his body felt heavy and he fell to the ground on his back.

"Brother!"

He could see Thor's form hovering over him through his blurry vision.

"Loki, wake up!" Thor shouted. "Something's wrong with him!"

"We need to get him to the healers!" Sif's voice shouted.

"Don't close your eyes, Loki."

"Stay with us, Loki!"

It was the last thing he heard before his vision darkened and he fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know if when my next update will be. I'm swarmed with assignments and trying to take care of my mental health. I hope you guys wash your hands and stay safe!


End file.
